ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Cal Lutheran men's volleyball team swept the Nazareth Golden Flyers (25-21, 25-17, 25-21) and the Johnson & Wales Wildcats (25-13, 25-20, 25-20) Friday on day one of the Golden Flyer Tournament which was held in Kidera Gymnasium.
The Kingsmen improved to 8-3 on the year. It's their most wins in a season since the program started back up in 2016. Nazareth and Johnson & Wales dropped to 8-6 and 3-10, respectively.
Patrick Rowe led the Kingsmen throughout the two games. He tallied 20 kills, 3.33 kill per set. Michael Campbell was second with 16 kills and hit with a .519 clip. Andrew Reina swatted down 14 kills, Justin Dietrich chipped in with 13 and Brendan Ward had 10 more.
Setter Grant Nelson kept the offense going with 72 assists. He had 34 against Nazareth and 38 verses Johnson & Wales. Dietrich led the Violet and Gold with four service aces.
Defensively, Alec Bennett had 18 digs. He recorded double-digit digs against Nazareth with 10. The Kingsmen were a force around the net and Dietrich tallied three total blocks. Campbell, Nelson, Rowe and Ward each chipped in with two.
In the first match against Nazareth, the Kingsmen jumped out to a 7-2 lead. Dietrich tallied a solo block and combined with Ward for another block. Campbell and Rowe both swatted down a kill. The Golden Flyers fought back and cut the lead to one at 15-14. CLU then went on a 3-0 run and took an 18-14 lead. The Kingsmen held on and won the game 25-21.
The Kingsmen carried that momentum into the second set and took an early 11-6 lead. CLU continued to put up the points and won the second set 25-17. In the third set, the game went back and forth early on. With the score tied at 10, CLU went on a 5-0 run. The Golden Flyers weren't able to answer the call. The Kingsmen won game three 25-21 and the match 3-0.
CLU turned right around and played Johnson & Wales 30 minutes later. The Kingsmen continued its stellar play in game one and had a quick 14-8 lead. Dietrich swatted down back-to-back kills during the early run. Reina also swatted down two kills during the run. CLU kept rolling and went on another run, this one 7-3, as the Kingsmen took a 21-11 lead. The one the first set easily, 25-13.
The second set was much closer. With Johnson and Wales up 8-5, the Kingsmen need to bounce back and they did just that. Eventually CLU tied up the game at 15 all. Rowe and Reina then picked up the offense and CLU had a 19-17 lead. Two plays later, Ward and Campbell combined for a block assist and CLU was up 21-17. After a service error by the Kingsmen, Campbell and Reina tallied back-to-back kills and CLU walked away with a 25-20 game two win.
The Kingsmen continued to be on fire in the third set. With the score tied at 5, CLU went on a 4-1 run and took the lead. The Wildcats fought back and trailed 15-14. With the score tied at 17, the Kingsmen went on a 4-0 run and took a commanding 21-17 lead. CLU won third set 25-19 and the match 3-0.
The Kingsmen continue the tournament tomorrow morning and take on Medaille at 8 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. Then they play St. John Fisher later in the day at 2 p.m. PST.
Box Score: CLU 3, NAZ 0; CLU 3, JWU 0
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director
