THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.— The Cal Lutheran women's volleyball showed its versatility on offense and defense as the Regals shut down the Caltech Beavers, 3-1, on Tuesday night in Gilbert Arena. The scores of the match were 25-15, 25-12, 22-25, 25-13.
The Regals moved their winning streak to four games and improved to 14-9 on the season. Cal Lutheran is now 8-4 in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play. The Regals jumped to the No. 4 spot in the SCIAC. Top-four teams advance to the SCIAC postseason tournament.
As a team, the Regals recorded a .313 hitting percentage. It is their third-highest hitting percentage of the season. Cal Lutheran also continued its strong play at the net. The Regals tallied 9.0 total blocks. On the other side, Caltech hit .123 and had 3.0 team blocks.
Jordan MacArthur led the offense, recording a career-high, and first game with double-digit kills and she had 12. She was one dig shy of a double-double and tallied nine. She added two block assists and two service aces.
Amanda Roberts was next with nine kills. She recorded her 13thgame with double-digit kills this season and totaled 11. She has had double-digit digs in five straight games.
Taylor Johnson, Daniella Villano, Madison Karcich and Mackenzie Martinez each had a hitting percentage of .400 or better. Johnson eight kills and hit with a match-high .467 clip. She added three block assists. Villano swatted down seven kills, with a .400 hitting percentage, and also recorded three block assists. Karcich had four kills and hit .444, while Martinez tallied two kills with a .400 clip.
Maci Haddad and Samantha Landrum both contributed with four kills. Kiana Pelton swatted down three and Steph Rolfson and Carly Rose Howard both had one as the Regals totaled 55 kills in all.
Jennifer Kent and Rolfson kept the ball moving and dished out 23 and 21 assists, respectively. Rolfson had double-digit kills with 11 and Kent added seven more.
Howard had many key digs as she totaled a match-high 18. Haddad led the Regals at the net and recorded four block assists.
The Regals set the tone early with strong swings. A nice serve by Roberts made for a hard dig by the Beavers and the ball came back over the net. MacArthur was there and swatted it down for a 2-1 lead. Cal Lutheran jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead.
Caltech the first set close and midway through CLU was only up 14-11. The Regals made their move right then and scored seven straight points and were up by 10. Roberts, Johnson (twice), and MacArthur all connect on kills and Kent served an ace. CLU used that momentum and won the set 25-15.
The Regals continued the dominant play into the second set and won big, 25-12. The set ended with four straight Cal Lutheran points. Villano connected on two kills and Karcich added one more. Villano also combined with Johnson for a block assist. The Beavers responded in the third set and won 25-22.
In the fourth set, Cal Lutheran scored the first three points as Roberts tallied two kills and Villano had one. The Regals doubled up Caltech at 8-4, 16-8 and then 20-10. CLU took the third set after a kill from MacArthur and then an ace from Kent. Cal Lutheran won the fourth set 25-13 and the match 3-1.
The Regals look to continue their win streak on the road. Cal Lutheran is back in action Friday and will take on Occidental at 7 p.m.
Interview with Daniella Villano and Jordan MacArthur:
Box Score: CLU 3, CIT 1
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director