No. 3 Cal Lutheran 3, UC Santa Cruz 0
Cal Lutheran 3, Redlands 0
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. –- Third-ranked Cal Lutheran clinched at least a share of its fourth consecutive Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) title after defeating Redlands 3-0 Saturday night. The 25-18, 25-11, 25-22 win against the Bulldogs capped a perfect day for CLU as the Regals defeated UC Santa Cruz 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-18) earlier that afternoon. The two victories also stretched CLU’s current winning-streak to 19 games.
The Regals got off to a fast start in the first set against Redlands, getting five kills from Hayley Tamagni and four more from Monica Lundgren.
Cal Lutheran continued its hot-streak into the second set, leading by as many as 14. CLU closed out game two with kills from Allie Eason, Lundgren and Caitlin Fransen.
Hannah Orlandi led the Regals in the final set, notching five kills in the set as CLU picked up its 25th consecutive SCIAC regular season win dating back to last year.
Against the Bulldogs, Tamagni led CLU 10 kills and Eason was second with seven.
Jackie Russell had 24 assists while teammate Jena Chavez contributed 16.
Defensively, Kennedy Peters led the Regals with 10 digs.
Earlier in the day, Cal Lutheran trailed late in the first set before rallying and defeating UC Santa Cruz. Trailing 23-20, Kylie McLogan got CLU back on serve after a big kill. Tamagni came up with a crucial service ace on the next point and Cal Lutheran closed out the first set on a kill from Rohach and a block from Eason.
Eason, Pua Mo’okini-Oliveira and Lauren Rohach all led CLU with seven kills while Tamagni chipped in five. Cal Lutheran’s two setters combined for 28 assists with Russell dishing out 19 and Chavez handing out nine.
McLogan led the Regals on defense with 16 digs and Nicki Tetherow was second with 11. Cal Lutheran also had a season-high 18 blocks with seven coming from both Rohach and Tamagni.
No. 4 St. Thomas (Minn.) 3, Bethel 0
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Jill Greenfield had 15 kills, hit .500, and added six blocks and nine digs to lead No. 4-ranked St. Thomas (Minn.) to a 3-0 home volleyball win against Bethel. The Tommies prevailed 25-16, 25-20, 25-13.
St. Thomas (24-2 overall, 9-1 MIAC) moved back into a three-way tie in the MIAC race as previous leader Concordia-Moorhead lost 3-0 at fourth-place St. Ben's. UST, Augsburg and the Cobbers are each 9-1. Augsburg finishes the MIAC season with a match against the Cobbers.
The Tommies hit .398 in Saturday's match and had 11 blocks. Sara Atkinson added 10 kills and hit .500. Kelly Foley hit .857 with six kills and added five blocks.
No. 7 St. Benedict (Minn.) 3, Concordia 0
ST. JOSEPH, Minn. -- St. Benedict (Minn.) collected its 23rd win of the season, sweeping the Concordia Cobbers (25-18, 25-20, 25-18). They have now secured a top-four conference finish and home-court advantage in the first round of the MIAC playoffs. The win was the last home regular season game for seniors Lexi Alm, Kendra Coleman, Kathryn Gaydos and Chelsea Rachel.
The Blazers improve to 23-2 overall and 8-2 in the MIAC with the win. With the loss, the Cobbers drop to 18-8 overall and 9-1 in the MIAC.
Alm had 13 kills in the match, bringing her career total to 1,251, just one shy of the fifth-best all-time mark in Blazer history. She also recorded her fourth-consecutive double-double and seventh in the past eight games.
Junior outside hitter Lexi Rinde added 13 kills today as well, inching her career mark closer to the 1,000 career kills milestone (981).
No. 8 Colorado College 3, Southwestern 0
No. 8 Colorado College 3, Schreiner 0
SHERMAN, Texas -- Fueled by the hitting of freshman Abbe Holtze, along with sophomores Courtney Birkett and Lauren Hahn, the Tigers made short work of Southwestern and Schreiner on Saturday with a pair of 3-0 victories in their first two of four weekend Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference cross-divisional matches.
Holtze hammered down 11 kills and Birkett 10 in an early 26-24, 25-22, 25-12 sweep of Southwestern. Hahn matched Hotlze's 12 kills as eighth-ranked CC improved to 28-2 overall, and 11-1 in league play, with a 25-14, 25-19, 25-14 triumph against Schreiner in Saturday's nightcap.
Southwestern was a point away from taking the first set, battling back from a 22-21 deficit to take a 24-23 lead, but Holtze's fifth kill of the set followed by consecutive attack errors by the Pirates let Colorado College off the hook.
Holtze, who led both teams with 11 kills altogether, added 13 digs in the triumph while sophomores Sophie Merrifield and Karina Guerrero posted 28 and 14, respectively. Kristen Liberty and Hahn chipped in with seven kills apiece, with freshman Keli Sherwood adding six. Liberty had a hand in four blocks.
Birkett had nine kills and Sherwood seven in the later match, when freshman Rebecca Watson dished up 40 assists. Birkett added 15 digs, one fewer than libero Merrifield's 16.
No. 17 Otterbein 3, No. 9 Mount Union 0
ALLIANCE, Ohio -- Mount Union, ranked No. 9 in the nation, lost its first conference game of the 2013 campaign in an Ohio Athletic Conference matchup to No. 17 Otterbein 3-0 on Saturday afternoon in the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex.
With the loss, the Purple Raiders fall to 25-4 overall and 6-1 in the OAC as the Cardinals improve to 23-6 overall and 5-2 in the OAC.
In the 25-16, 25-23, 25-20 loss to Otterbein, the Raiders were led by senior Taylor Webb who notched eight kills as junior Lauren Mastroine led the team with 12 digs. Juniors Sarah Schleich and Brittany Woodard each recorded double digit assists as Schleich tallied 14 and Woodard had 10.
