THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.— The Cal Lutheran men's volleyball team scored 22-points in all three sets, challenging No. 5 Carthage on Friday night. The Red Men came out on top and swept the Kingsmen 25-22, 26-24, 25-23.
Cal Lutheran dropped to 5-4 on the season with every loss coming at the hands of a top-15 opponent. Carthage hit over .300 every set and controlled the net with six blocks, holding the Kingsmen to zero, while improving to 3-1.
The first set went back and forth before Cal Lutheran built a lead. Nick Christy swatted down a kill to put CLU up 20-16 as the Kingsmen looked to take the first set. The Red Men fought back and tied the game at 20 before Cal Lutheran went back up 22-20. Carthage shocked the Kingsmen at the end, scoring five straight points, and grabbed the 25-22 win.
The Kingsmen were on the verge of stealing the second set and had a 18-14 lead after a Red Men error. Christy was a force at the net and recorded a kill a little bit later to put CLU up 23-20. However, Carthage answered with another run to end the set. The Red Men trailed 24-23, but scored three straight points and took the set 26-24.
Carthage started slow the first two sets, but did not continue that trend and went up 7-1 in the third set. Cal Lutheran recovered and trailed by just one as Andrew Reina tallied a kill to make the score 17-16. The score was close the rest of the set as the Kingsmen trailed by one multiple times. Justin Dietrich made it a one-point game, but on the brink, as CLU trailed 24-23. The Red Men got the last kill, won the set 25-23, and swept the Kingsmen.
Christy led the way with nine kills and hit with a percentage of .500. Reina and Connor Hinthorn were next with six digs and Jacob Schleien added five more.Jacob Cudiamat kept the offense going with 21 assists and Hinthorn led the defense with nine digs.
Cal Lutheran continues the season at home and plays on Saturday against Augustana at 4 p.m. and Westcliff at 6:30.
Box Score: No. 5 CC 3, CLU 0
CLU Instagram: CLUSports
Sport IG: kingsmen_volleyball
CLU Twitter: CLUSports
Sport Twitter: CLUmVolleyball
CLU Facebook: CLUSports
Hashtags: #clusports #ownthethrone #goregals #gokingsmen #theSCIAC #ncaad3
Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director
