THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.— A day of career-highs kept the Cal Lutheran women's volleyball team rolling on Saturday as the Regals took down Concordia (Texas), 3-1, and then Puget Sound, 3-2, on day two of the Cal Lu Fornia Invitational.
Sarah Hein and Jojo MacArthur both recorded their career-high in kills with 18 and 15, respectively. Hein did so against Puget Sound and MacArthur tallied hers against Concordia. Carly Rose Howard also had a career night as she tallied a high of 31 digs in a five-set thriller against Puget Sound.
The Regals have now won four games in a row and improve to 6-2 on the season. Huge performances came from all over the lineup as CLU battled hard for both of its wins today.
Game One – 25-18, 17-25, 25-20, 25-22
MacArthur led the offense with a season-high 15 kills and hit with a .375 percentage and teammates Maci Haddad and Hein added nine apiece while Christina Williams and Morgan Given added eight and six, respectively. Setter Jennifer Kent shared the ball as she recorded 40 assists. She was one dig shy of a double-double and added two service aces and two block assists. Defensively, Howard anchored the defense with 14 digs and Haddad was at the net with five total blocks.
With the Regals up 14-13 in the first set, Williams swatted down back-to-back kills to put CLU up 16-13. The Tornadoes kept the set close and were down 20-18 before CLU rattled off five straight points and took the 1-0 match lead. Haddad recorded two kills down the stretch to propel CLU. Concordia fought back hard in the second and took the set 25-17, and the Regals answered in third and claimed the set 25-20.
With the Regals down 21-17 in the fourth, CLU fired back and scored eight of the next nine points and took fourth set 25-22 and the match 3-1. During the run, Samantha Landrum recorded two kills, including the match-clinching point, MacArthur added a kill and Julia Trento served an ace.
Game Two – 21-25, 25-20, 24-26, 25-18, 17-15
The career-high's kept coming as the Regals took on the Loggers in the nightcap. This time, it was Hein's turn as she recorded her 18 kills. The Regals' offense continued to spread the love as MacArthur was next with 12 kills, Haddad recorded 10 and Williams had seven more. Kent tallied her fourth double-double of the year as she dished out 34 assists and added 10 digs.
The Regals defense came up clutch, led by Howard with her impressive 31 digs. MacArthur matched Kent with 10 digs of her own and Hein added nine more. At the net, Haddad tallied four total blocks while Given, Landrum and Williams added two more apiece.
The match went back-and-forth the entire way through. Puget sound would take the lead after the first and third sets, and the Regals would answer in the second and fourth. The match finally came down to a decisive fifth set. The Regals jumped out to the quick lead, thanks to kills from Haddad and Hein, the duo then combined for a block and MarArthur served an ace.
The Loggers, down 5-0, did not give up and eventually took the lead at 13-12. The big plays kept coming for the Regals as Given and Haddad combined for a block to make it 13-all. On the very next play, Haddad gave CLU the 14-13 lead with a kill. After the Loggers tied up the match again, this time at 15, and error gave the Regals a 16-15 lead. Match point was won by Cal Lutheran on the very next play as Hein swatted down the final kill.
The Regals have one more tournament before starting conference play. Cal Lutheran will be in St. Louis, Mo., for the East to West Battle. The Regals start the tournament on Friday and take on Trinity (Texas) at 12:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.
Box Score: CLU 3, CU (Tex.) 1; CLU 3, UPS 2
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director; Alexa Barnes, Sports Information Assistant