SPRINGFIELD, Mass.— The Cal Lutheran men's volleyball team suffered its first defeat on the East Coast as the Kingsmen were swept by the No. 2 team in the nation, and two-time defending National Champion, Springfield Pride on Thursday night in Blake Arena. The scores of the match were 23-25, 15-25, 18-25.
This was the first meeting ever between Cal Lutheran and the powerhouse that is Springfield. The Kingsmen dropped to 11-9 as the Pride improved to 20-2.
Offensively, the Kingsmen hitters struggled to find the open parts on the floor. Their hitting percentage was .000 and Springfield tallied 35 digs. On the other side, Spring hit with a .254 clip as CLU put up 20 digs.
Cal Lutheran put up a great fight as they almost stole the first set from Springfield. It was tied four times early on before being tied at 11. The Kinsgmen took their first lead of the set as Springfield committed an error and Justin Dietrich and Kelly Jew combined for a block. The set was tied five more times over the next stretch of the match. With the score knotted up at 21, a Pride error and a kill by Brendan Ward gave CLU the edge. However, Springfield showed why it's the No. 2 team in the nation and scored four straight points to escape with the first-set win.
The Pride carried that momentum into the second set and jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead. They never allowed the Kingsmen to get back in the set and won 25-15. CLU could not recover in the third set as Springfield claimed the set 25-18 and won the match 3-0.
Andrew Reina and Dasmen Stewart both recorded five kills and Ward added four more. Grant Nelson and Alec Bennett both facilitated the ball and dished out seven assists each.
Defensively,Eli Moore recorded five digs and Reina had four more. Dietrich tallied two block assists.
The Kingsmen continue their road trip on Friday. Cal Lutheran will take on Stevens with the game time set for 4 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.
Box Score: SC 3, CLU 0
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director
