KENOSHA, Wis.— No. 12 Cal Lutheran was outplayed at the net by No. 3 Carthage as the Kingsmen fell to the Red Men in straight sets on Friday night. The scores of the match were 21-25, 17-25, 22-25.
Boasting one of the toughest schedules in Division III, the Kingsmen (4-4) lost their third match with a top-five team. The other two losses came at the hand of then-No. 5 SUNY New Paltz. Carthage remains undefeated at 6-0.
Cal Lutheran had a season-low three blocks. Their previous low was seven. The Red Men showed why they are the No. 3 team in the nation and outhit the Kingsmen .309 to .194, had more digs 47-31 and tallied five aces to CLU's one.
The bright spot from the game was Justin Dietrich as he tallied a season high in kills and hitting percentage. The junior middle blocker swatted down 11 kills and did so with a .688 clip.
Junior Patrick Rowe was next with seven kills, while seniors Dasmen Stewart and Brendan Ward both had five. Junior Grant Nelson and Alec Bennett dished out 17 and 13 assists, respectively.
Defensively, Marc Quezada had a team-high six digs and Dietrich and Rowe both tallied two blocks.
Carthage was on fire from the beginning of the match and took a quick 7-2 lead in the first set. Cal Lutheran battled back, showing it can play with top competition, and only trailed by one just over halfway through the set (15-14). The Red Men then used a 4-1 run to give them some breathing room. Carthage would take the first set 25-21.
The beginning of the second set was not what the Kingsmen were looking for as the Red Men jumped out to an 8-1 lead. Carthage wouldn't let up and were up by as much as 12 (15-3). The Red Men took the second set 25-17 as they shut down the Kingsmen.
Carthage continued to put up the points and led the third set 9-3. With the Red Men up 22-15, the Kingsmen made their move as they tried to avoid the sweep. CLU went on a 5-0 run before Carthage called a timeout. The Kingsmen showed hear, but couldn't get any closer. Carthage won the set 25-22 and the match 3-0.
Cal Lutheran continues the weekend with more ranked teams. The Kingsmen play No. 7 North Central on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. PST and then No. 9 Benedictine at 12:30 p.m.
Box Score: CC 3, CLU 0
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director
