THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.— The Cal Lutheran men's volleyball team capped off Saturday with two five-set matches, first falling to Augustana before defeating Westcliff, inside the Soiland Recreation Center on Saturday night.
The spilt sent the Kingsmen 6-5 on the year. Cal Lutheran has played three five-set matches and is 1-2 in those games. CLU lost to Augustana 22-25, 22-25, 25-20, 27-25, 12-15 and then took down Westcliff 25-21, 25-23, 20-25, 22-25, 19-17.
Cal Lutheran 3, Westcliff 2
In the nightcap, 16 Kingsmen saw action, with newcomers and underclassmen getting valuable experience. Andrew McFarlane led the way with 14 kills and Jacob Schleien was right behind him with 13. Justin Dietrich came off the bench with seven kills and a .636 hitting percentage.
Jacob Cudiamat and Blake Zingerman split time at the setter position and dished out 34 and 19 assists, respectively. Defensively, Michael Zielinski tallied three block assists and Alec Bennett and matched his career-high of 15 digs.
After the Kingsmen won the first two sets, Westcliff battled back to take the next two and the match went to the fifth. With CLU up 8-7, Dietrich delivered back-to-back kills to give a three-point cushion at 10-7. The set continued to be close and was eventually tied at 17. Westcliff had the final chances, but two errors gave the Purple and Gold the five-set win.
Augustana 3, Cal Lutheran 2
Dietrich started the day with a fantastic game and tallied 15 kills with a hitting percentage of .609. Reina was right behind him with 14 and Connor Hinthorn added eight more. Zingerman kept the offense moving and dished out 40 assists.
Defensively, Hinthorn led the way with 12 digs and Reina tallied a double-double with 10 more. Dietrich continued his impressive game with seven total blocks and Kelly Jew added three more.
The first match was the complete opposite when it came to winning the sets. The opposing team, Augustana, won the first two and Cal Lutheran fought back to win the next two. In the fifth set, CLU found themselves quickly down 4-0.
The Kingsmen fought back, just as they did in the third and fourth sets and tied it at 4. The score would be tied six times from 5-5 to 12-12. The was the last time it would be tied as Augustana scored the next three points and stole the match.
Cal Lutheran hits the road for the next five matches. The Kingsmen travel to Illinois and start with North Central on Feb. 14 at 5 pm PST.
Box Score: AU 3, CLU 2; CLU 3, WU 2
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director
