NAPERVILLE, Ill.— Andrew Reina swatted down a career high 21 kills and Patrick Rowe added 15 more, but Cal Lutheran men's volleyball came up just short and lost to the North Central Cardinals, 3-2, on Friday night. Scores of the match were 25-19, 25-27, 15-25, 25-20, 13-15.
The Kingsmen (6-6) are in Illinois for a 5-game road trip and travel between the cities of Naperville, River Forest and Lisle. Cal Lutheran has now competed in four five-set matches, and hold a record of 1-3.
Reina surpassed has career high easily as his previous number was 14. On top of his 21 kills, he added seven digs and two blocks.
Rowe started strong and carried his great play over the set as he tallied the 15 kills with eight digs and seven total blocks. The blocks were a career high.
Justin Dietrich made it three Kingsmen with 12 kills, adding five digs and six total blocks. Jacob Cudiamat kept the offense moving with 43 assists.
The Cal Lutheran defense was out in full force and helped keep the Kingsmen in the match.Connor Hinthorn led the way with 10 digs with Cudiamat was next with nine. Two Kingsmen recorded seven blocks as Nick Christy matched Rowe.
The match remained close with almost all of the stat categories equal. The biggest difference was digs as North Central bested Cal Lutheran 69 to 50.
North Central opened the contest on a roll, scoring the first three points and opened a 6-1 lead. A few players later, Cal Lutheran earned four straight points to due Cardinal errors and a block assist from Cudiamat and Dietrich. With the score knotted at nine, CLU took its first lead as a block by Cudiamat and Christy and a kill from Cudiamat helped contribute to a 3-0 run.
The Kingsmen used that breathing room to create more space. They scored two points compared to North Central's one many times over an eight-point stretch and had a 17-13 lead after a Cardinal timeout. Cal Lutheran cruised the rest of the way and back-to-back kills from Rowe and Reina sealed the 25-19 first set win.
After North Central won the next two sets, it was up to Cal Lutheran in the fourth. With the score tied at two, one kill by Reina and two kills from Dietrich, gave CLU a 5-2 lead. The Kingsmen increased their lead in the middle of the set and were up 16-8 after four straight points. CLU won the fourth set 25-20 and forced a fifth set.
The fifth set went back and forth, with both team having the lead, before being tied at 5. Cudiamat tallied a kills and Rowe served an ace to give CLU the lead. North Central answered with a 4-1 run as the Cardinals took a 10-9 lead. NCC kept the run going and took a 12-10 lead. The Kingsmen had the answer a kill from Renia and a clock by Renia, Rowe and Dietrich tied the set at 12. The score was then tied at 13 after a kill from Dietrich, but ultimately came to an end with North Central taking fifth set 15-13 and the well-deserved match win.
Cal Lutheran continues its Illinois trip on Saturday with two games. The Kingsmen take on Dominican at 10 a.m. and Milwaukee School of Engineering at 12:30 p.m.
Box Score: NCC 3, CLU 2
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director
