BUENA VISTA, Va.— The Cal Lutheran men's volleyball team wrapped up its East Coast trip with a sweep of East Mennonite before having a five-set loss to Southern Virginia.
This was the first of two East Coast trips for the Kingsmen. They were 1-3 on the road and dropped to 9-13 overall. In five-set matches this year, CLU is 1-4.
In the first match of the day, CLU shut down East Mennonite. The Kingsmen won in straight sets with scores of 25-15, 25-12, 28-26.
Six Kingsmen tallied 3-plus kills as Andrew McFarlane led the way with seven kills. Connor Hinthorn added six kills and Patrick Rowe and Justin Dietrich tallied five apiece. Dietrich added a match-high five blocks while Eli Moore tallied six digs.
Cal Lutheran opened the first set on a 5-0 run, capped off with a kill from Kelly Jew, and the Kingsmen were in control. They asserted their will all over the court and took the first set 25-15. The Kingsmen continued their dominance in the second set, improving, and took a 2-0 match-lead after a 25-12 win.
The third set saw a lot of comebacks from the Kingsmen. Down 15-12, a three-point run tied the game for CLU. With a 41-21 deficit the Kingsmen again fought back and tied the match at 25. With the score tied at 26, a kill by Rowe and a block assist by Andrew Reina and Nick Christy ended the match.
The second set was a back-and-forth contest with both teams giving it everything they had. Rowe led the team with 15 kills, eight digs and three block assists, while Blake Zingerman tallied 23 assists.
The Kingsmen won the first set 29-27 before Southern Virginia bounced back and won the second 25-20. That same play continued as CLU won the third 25-19 and SVU answered by winning the fourth 25-16.
It all came down to the fifth set. With Cal Lutheran up 2-1, Southern Virginia used a big 7-0 run and took a commanding 8-2 lead. The Kingsmen tried to get back in the set, but the closest they could get was within four points, as Southern Virginia won the fifth set 15-8 and the match.
The Kingsmen return home for one contest before hitting the road again. Cal Lutheran host St. Katherine on Friday at 7 p.m. in Gilbert Arena.
Box Score: CLU 3, EMU 0; SVU 3, CLU 2
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director
