CLAREMONT, Calif.— The Cal Lutheran women's volleyball team faced some tough competition on day one of the East-West Challenge as the Regals lost 3-1 to both No. 12 Washington (Mo.) Bears (10-25, 21-25, 25-17, 12-25) and University of Texas-Dallas Comets (25-21, 18-25, 21-25, 12-25) Friday in Roberts Pavilion.
Versus the Bears of Washington, Maci Haddad led the charge with eight kills and had a hitting percentage of .400. Amanda Roberts was next with seven kills and Jordan MacArthur and Amy McKee both had five.
Steph Rolfson tallied her fourth double-double of the season for assists and digs with 19 and 10, respectively. Defensively, Paris Dosch recorded five total blocks and Carly Rose Howard had a team-high 11 digs.
Washington took the first two sets 10-25 and 17-25, respectively, and had the Regals on the brink very quickly. Cal Lutheran had an answer in the third set as they jumped out to a huge 14-1 lead, scoring the first eight points. Rolfson started the set with an ace. Roberts swatted down three kills during the streak, Haddad recorded two and MacArthur had one.
A big play during the set came when Dosch and Samantha Landrum sent back an attack as they combined for a block assist and gave CLU a 19-11 lead. Ashley Reyes then served an ace to push the lead to nine points. Cal Lutheran kept the lead and won the third set 25-17 and pushed the match to a fourth set. Washington countered right back and took the fourth set and claimed the match at 3-1.
Sarah Hein and Roberts led the offense against Texas-Dallas with eight kills each. Haddad was right behind them with seven kills. Daniella Villano and freshman Madison Karcich both recorded four.
Freshman Julia Trento served two service aces and Hein and Roberts added one. Rolfson kept the ball moving with 26 assists. She recorded her fifth double-double with 11 digs.
Hein led the defense with 15 digs and six Regals tallied a block assist. Lauren Heller and Reyes both accounted for six digs for the defense.
In the first set with Texas-Dallas, the Regals fell quickly into a 6-2 hole which prompted a Cal Lutheran timeout. The Violet and Gold took advantage of the timeout as they came out and tied the set at 9-9 after back-to-back kills from Haddad and Hein. The offense continued its hot hitting as Roberts swatted down back-to-back kills to give CLU a 14-11 lead.
The offense then sparked the defense as Dosch, Roberts and Rolfson combined for a block assist as the Regals increased their lead to four at 17-13. CLU kept that distance as they took the first set 25-21. Texas-Dallas then rattled off three straight set wins and stole the match 3-1.
The Regals (6-5) continue the West-East Challenge Saturday. Cal Lutheran will take on Juniata at 2:30 p.m.
Box Scores: No. 12 WU 3, No. 15 CLU 1; UTD 3, CLU 1
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director
