CHICAGO— The Cal Lutheran Regals volleyball team saw its season come to an end as they were defeated by the Illinois Wesleyan Titans, 3-0, on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Division III Championship which was hosted by the University of Chicago in Ratner Center. The scores were 14-25, 17-25, 19-25. 

The Regals (18-12) finished the season with an at-large berth in 2018 Division III Championship. CLU was one of 21 teams to receive at an-large bid.

Seniors Amanda Roberts, Steph Rolfson, Paris Dosch, CJ O'Brien and Hannah Cantrell ended their CLU careers in the NCAA tournament. Cal Lutheran made it to the tournament three out of the past four years and was the National Champion in 2015.   

Against Illinois Wesleyan, Roberts recorded a team-high 10 kills and added seven digs. Rolfson split time at setter and had 14 assists.

The Regals underclassmen showed promise in the postseason. Freshmen Maci Haddad and Jordan MacArthur both swatted down seven kills each. Haddad hit with a .455 clip. She also added three total blocks to lead the team. MacArthur recorded two service aces.

Sophomore Taylor Johnson was next with five kills and freshman Samantha Landrum had four more. Johnson and MacArthur both added two block assists. 

Sophomore setter Jennifer Kent helped move the ball on offense and dished out a team-high 16 assists. Defensively, junior libero Carly Rose Howard paced the Violet and Gold with 13 digs.

This year's squad accomplished a lot as three Regals were named to All-SCIAC teams in Roberts (first), Haddad (first) and Rolfson (second). Cal Lutheran also knocked off two top-five teams on their way to the at-large berth at the NCAA Championship.

CLU graduate's leadership, but returns a strong core as the Regals look to get back to the NCAA tournament in 2019.     

Box Score: IWU 3, CLU 0
CLU Instagram: CLUSports
Sport IG: regals_volleyball
CLU Twitter: CLUSports
Sport Twitter: CLUwVolleyball
CLU Facebook: CLUSports
Hashtags: #clusports #ownthethrone #goregals #gokingsmen #theSCIAC #ncaad3

Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director