THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — California Lutheran University took on #8 SUNY New Paltz for the second time this season after upsetting the Hawks just three days ago. The Kingsmen pushed the Hawks again, but were defeated in four sets.
Cal Lutheran came our firing in their first set of the season at home. The Kingsmen took a 15-5 lead behind strong serving from Seamus McDonagh, Sean Fitzpatrick, and Conner Shumate that kept the New Paltz offense out of system. The Hawks found a rhythm though, and were able to mount a comeback all the way to 20-20. The Kingsmen were then able to take 5 of the last 7 points for a 25-22 victory in set 1.
Set 2 stayed tight as the Kingsmen limited mistakes to stay level despite New Paltz having a distinct advantage in kills. Cal Lutheran forced the set to 23-23 but a kill and a block gave the Hawks the set 25-23.
The 3rd set was a close one again with the Kingsmen holding New Paltz to a hitting percentage of just .088. This allowed Cal Lutheran to hold a 23-22 lead, looking to move ahead in the match once more. Unfortunately, the Hawks were able to take advantage of a few errors to claim the final three points and a 25-23 victory.
The Kingsmen fought hard in set 4 with yet another late tie at 19-19. The Hawks were able to pull away from there for a 25-22 win and a 3-1 final score.
The Kingsmen offense was lead by Jake Tucker who put down 11 kills as part of his 14.5 points on the night.
At the net, the Kingsmen put down 14 blocks as a team. The effort was led out of the middle by Borys Horiuk's 7 total blocks and Dylan Schreibfeder's 6 denials.
The Kingsmen will be back in Gilbert Arena for a blast from the past as they take on former Kingsmen in this year's Alumni Match on Friday at 6:00pm.
Box Score: CLU 1, SUNY NP 3
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Release by Steven Lohn, Assistant Sports Information Director
