CLAREMONT, Calif.— The Cal Lutheran women's volleyball team fell twice on Saturday afternoon, 3-0 to Wis.-Platteville and 3-1 to St. Olaf, at the Pacific Coast Classic which was hosted by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, La Verne and Pomona-Pitzer.
The scores of the match against Wis.-Platteville were 16-25, 17-25, 16-25 and the final with St. Olaf was 25-15, 18-25, 16-25, 19-25. The Regals were 2-0 after day one, but came up empty handed on day two, and are now .500 on the season.
Game One – UWP 3, CLU 0
The Regals were looking for their third straight win to start the season, but the Wis.-Platteville Pioneers had different plans. The Pioneers had a .448 hitting percentage with four players hitting .444 or better. UWP also controlled the net, recording more blocks then CLU, six to three.
Sophomore Jojo MacArthur led the offense for the third consecutive game and tallied eight kills. She showed off her complete arsenal with seven digs, two service aces and one block. Junior setter Jennifer Kent recorded 16 assists while junior Sarah Hein and senior Carly Rose Howard recorded six and five digs, respectfully.
The first set went back-and-forth and was tied eight times early on. With the set tied at 11, the Pioneers hit their stride and recorded seven straight points and took a huge lead. The Regals could not recover as UWP took the first set 25-16. The Pioneers started the second set with the same intensity as the first and took a quick 6-0 lead. They held that margin for the rest of the set and won 25-17. UWP kept the pressure on the third set, won 25-16, and took the match from the Regals.
Game Two – STO 3, CLU 1
MacArthur was the team leader in kills with nine as freshman Morgan Given recorded a season-high of eight and hit with a .412 percentage. Hein was third with seven kills and added seven digs and two block assists. Sophomore Maci Haddad kept up her strong play at the net and totaled four blocks and Howard led the defense with eight digs. Kent shared the ball as she dished out 25 assists.
Cal Lutheran got back on track in the first set against St. Olaf. With the score tied at six, the Regals went on a 10-2 run. Given recorded two kills, Haddad added one more then combined with Kent for a block, and Howard and sophomore Lauren Heller served an ace. CLU kept the pressure on and won the first set 25-15.
St. Olaf bounced back in the second and third sets, winning 25-18 and 25-16, respectively. The Regals jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the fourth set and had hopes of pushing the match to five sets. St. Olaf fired back, scoring eight of the next points, and doubled up CLU 8-4. The Regals cut into the lead, making it a one-point game at 13-12, but that was the closest they could get as the Oles won the set 25-19 and the match 3-1.
This next weekend will be the first time fans can catch the Regals at home. Cal Lutheran host its annual Cal Lu Fornia Invitational, Friday and Saturday. They start the invite with UC Santa Cruz on Friday at 4:45 p.m. and then play Texas Lutheran at 7.
Box Score: UWP 3, CLU 0;STO 3, CLU 1
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director