PASADENA, Calif.— Libero Carly Rose Howard recorded 15 digs, giving her 1,062 for a career, which is the eighth most in the Cal Lutheran record book, as Regals volleyball cruised to a 25-18, 25-20, 26-24 sweep of Caltech Saturday afternoon.
It's the second consecutive win for the Regals as they improve to 14-10 overall and 8-5 in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play. The Regals continue to sit in the No. 3 spot with three games to go.
The starting libero for the past two seasons, Howard has been instrumental for the defense's success. With her performance today, she jumped Jamey Light, Tara Thomas and Kylie McLogan, and etched her name into the CLU records.
She has tallied double-digit digs in 19 games this season, including five straight. The defense was all over the court as Sarah Hein was right behind her with 13 and Jojo MacArthur added seven more. At the net, Kristine Fimlaid and Samantha Landrum tallied four blocks each and Maci Haddad had three more.
Offensively, Haddad led the way with 11 kills with an attack percentage of .688. This season, she has had five games with double-digit kills and a clip better than .400. Morgan Given and MacArthur added seven kills and Landrum swatted down six more, while Jenna Jones dished out 18 assists.
The Regals were quick to double up the Beavers and back-to-back kills from Given had CLU up 10-5 in the first set. After a CIT timeout, Cal Lutheran came out on a roll and scored 11 of the next 14 points, including seven straight, to take a 21-8 lead. Four different Regals tallied a kill during the run as Fimlaid, Hein, Haddad and Landrum all contributed. CLU had the 1-0 match lead as they won the first set 25-18.
Cal Lutheran kept up the tough play in the second set and took a quick 8-3 lead. It took the Beavers a little bit to find their footing, but they started clicking in the second set. CIT fought back, scoring six straight points and had the 10-9 lead. The second set remained close as the teams exchanged points and the Beavers led 17-15.
The deficit woke the Regals up as they rattled off seven straight points to take the commanding 22-17 lead. During the run, MacArthur tallied a kill, then combined with Fimlaid for a block and Fimlaid and Given added another block. CLU claimed the set 25-20 and had the 2-0 match lead. The third set was the closet of all three and the Regals found themselves down 24-23. After a CLU timeout, which paid off, Haddad and MacArthur swatted down back-to-back kills and CIT committed an error.
The Regals can continue their winning streak on Tuesday as they host Pomona-Pitzer on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Box Score: CLU 3, CIT 0
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director
