ORANGE, Calif.— The Cal Lutheran women's volleyball team showed its dominance at the net and recorded a season-high 16 total team blocks as the Regals took down the Chapman Panthers 3-2 Tuesday night in the Hutton Sports Center.
The Regals continue to hold down the fourth spot in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) standings. CLU is now 10-5 in the SCIAC and 16-10 overall. The No. 2-4 spots in the standings are separated by just one game.
Cal Lutheran was down 2-1 in the match as the Regals started to get hot. CLU recorded a hitting percentage of .462 in the fourth set and .321 in the fifth set to complete the comenack and knock off the Panthers.
Maci Haddad tied her career-high and turned back 10 total attacks. She tallied one solo block and nine block assists. She recorded her second double-double as she added 14 kills, with an impressive hitting percentage of .500. She added four digs on the night.
Amanda Roberts paced the offense with 15 kills. She added 13 digs for a double-double. She filled her stat line with four block assists and two service aces.
Four Regals tallied double-digit kills as Mackenzie Martinez and Taylor Johnson had 11 and 10, respectively. The duo both added five block assists. Martinez recorded her first career double-double as she added 11 digs.
Jennifer Kent started just her second match of the year and flourished in the setter position. She recorded a new career-high for assists and digs. She dished out 52 assists and added 19 digs for her second double-double of the year. She also three kills and two block assists.
Carly Rose Howard was at libero for the Regals and recorded 17 digs. She added four assist and one service ace. Jordan MacArthur and Madison Karcich also saw time on the court. MacArthur tallied 12 digs, four kills and four block assists. Karcich stepped up and connected on four big kills for CLU. She chipped in with five digs.
After Chapman won the first set 25-23, Cal Lutheran was looking to bounce back in the second. The Panthers led for most of the second set and were up 15-9. CLU got a quick charge as Roberts swatted down a kill, and Martinez and Johnson combined for a block for back-to-back points.
Cal Lutheran cut the lead to three, 16-13 after a Johnson kill and Howard ace. The Regals slowly continued to chip away at the lead and it was eventually tied at 20. After a Chapman error put CLU up 23-22, the Regals took care of the rest. Haddad and MacArthur and then Haddad Martinez combined for back-to-back blocks and CLU evened the match at one set apiece.
The Panthers took a 2-1 lead in the match as they won the third set 25-23. The Regals needed to step up, again, and pushed the match to a fifth set. With Cal Lutheran up 11-10, the Regals scored four straight to open up their lead. Karcich recorded a kills and Haddad and Kent combined for a block during the run.
Chapman was able to cut into the lead as CLU was still on top 20-17. The Regals pushed the lead back to five after Martinez swatted down a kill, which was followed by a solo block from Haddad. The set ended with a kill from Haddad as CLU pushed the match to a fifth and final set. The Regals hit with authority in the fourth set and had a percentage of .462.
In the fifth set, Chapman jumped out to a 11-7 lead. The Regals turned it on after that a scored five-straight to take a 12-11 lead. Johnson, Martinez and Roberts all recorded a kill. With the score tied at 13, the Panthers committed two unforced errors and the Regals walked off the court with a 15-13 fifth-set win and the 3-2 match win.
Cal Lutheran ends the regular season at home. The Regals will celebrate and honor their seniors Friday night against Pomona-Pitzer. The match starts at 7 p.m.
Box Score: CLU 3, CU 2
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director
