THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.— Maci Haddad had 14 kills with a .429 attack percentage and Morgan Given added 11 kills and a .409 clip as Cal Lutheran women's volleyball swept the Chapman Panthers 25-22, 25-18, 26-24 on Friday night.
The Regals avenged an early season loss and shocked the Panthers in three sets. Cal Lutheran and Chapman split on the year as the Panthers escaped with a 3-2 win on Oct. 5. With four conference games left, CLU is 7-5 in SCIAC and 13-10 overall.
Cal Lutheran sits in the No. 3 spot in conference, tied with La Verne, but own the tiebreaker. The Violet and Gold are two games ahead of the fifth-place team.
Haddad and Given led the way, both hitting better than .400, as the Regals hit .214 as a team and held Chapman to .099. On top of the offense, Given showed off her defense and matched Mackenzie Martinez with the most blocks on the team with three.
Jojo MacArthur came up with seven clutch kills, Samantha Landrum was next with five andSarah Hein added four. Jennifer Kent and Jenna Jones dished out the ball, as the Regals attacked from all over the floor, and tallied 16 and 15 assists, respectively.
Carly Rose Howard played fantastic as she recorded a match-high 22 digs. MacArthur added double-digit digs with 10 while Kristine Fimlaid, Haddad and Landrum shut down the Chapman attackers with two blocks each.
With conference play in the final stretch, all matches count and the Regals showed up when they needed to the most. The Panthers took the early lead and led the first set 20-16. CLU was there to answer the call, scoring four of the next five points, and cut the lead to one. After a CU timeout, Cal Lutheran kept the points coming and added three more with kills from Hein and Given and a block assist from Given and Martinez. The run gave the Violet and Gold the momentum as the Regals took the first set 25-22.
Cal Lutheran was in a big hole in the second set, down 9-2, but did not get discouraged. The Regals slowly chipped away at the lead and scored four straight points midway through the set and trailed the Panthers 17-13. CLU made its move after that and scored seven straight points and took a 20-17 lead. The Regals ended the second set on another run, this one 5-0, and claimed the set 25-18.
Just like the first two sets, CLU fought through adversity. The Panthers were up 22-16 in the third set as they tried to extend the match. The Regals had other plans as five straight points cut it to a one-point game. Chapman answered and took a 24-22 lead, but an error from the Panthers and a kill from Haddad tied the game. Defense put the finishing touches on the game as CLU recorded two blocks to end the match. Haddad and Hein broke the tie and Haddad and Landrum ended the set at 26-24 and the match at 3-0.
With four games left, CLU looks to build a winning streak before the conference tournament. The Regals hit the road on Saturday and take on Caltech at 2 p.m.
Box Score: CLU 3, CU 0
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director