Volleyball Sweeps Past Occidental

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The No. 3 Cal Lutheran volleyball team used 25-20, 25-19 and 25-18 wins to secure a 3-0 victory over Occidental in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play tonight inside the Gilbert Arena to sweep the season series with the Tigers.

Last week the Regals began cycling through league opponents for a second time and they remain confident in their abilities as a unit. Just as they have done all season, the Regals looked to everyone to contribute tonight. Caitlin Fransen stepped up and put down five kills on seven swings, including last of the match, while Allie Eason led the attack with 12 kills. Both Jackie Russell and Jena Chavez set the ball well tonight, finishing with 25 and 10 assists, respectively while Pua Mo’okini-Oliveira was solid serving with a trio of aces.

Defensively, CLU held Occidental players to a mere .089 hitting percentage as a team. Eason and Lauren Rohach each tallied a pair of block assists for the Violet and Gold tonight and Nicki Tetherow filled the libero spot, recording nine digs to match Russell, one behind Eason’s team-leading 10, which gave the sophomore a double-double.

 

The match opened with Oxy taking a 4-0 lead before Mo’okini-Oliveiraput up the first CLU crooked number, sparking a 5-0 run that she capped off with her second kill of the night. The teams exchanged points before a big kill from Easongave CLU an 18-15 lead forcing Occidental to use a timeout. Mo’okini-Oliveira came out of the huddle for an ace and the Regals followed with a kill from Kylie McLogan in the back row to push the Cal Lutheran total to 20. Following a solid rally on both sides off a serve from Russellthe first game ended with a Tigers attacking error, giving CLU a 1-0 lead with a 25-20 victory.

In the second set, Cal Lutheran took a 2-1 lead and held Oxy to a .049 hitting percentage in the game, but the tenacious Tigers would not allow things to be easy for the home squad. Trailing at various points early in the game, CLU used a dump shot from Russell to shift the momentum. A block by Fransen and Rohachbroke a 9-9 tie before McLogan placed down a forceful kill and Eason followed suit with a service ace for a three-point gap at 12-9. Eason went on to serve for another pair of points and CLU eventually took a 17-10 lead, forcing Occidental to use another timeout. Oxy scrappily clawed their way back into the game, but the Regals were ultimately too much, locking down the second set on an Eason kill to win 25-19.

The third set started with a wake-up call kill from Hayley Tamagni, but again took a little time for the Regals to warm up. A teeter-tottering set saw a shift late in the game. McLogan set up a kill for Rohach with an athletic dig and Mo’okini-Oliveira stepped back to serve for three points, including a pair of aces. Fransen notching the last kill of the game before it ended at 25-18 on an Oxy hitting error.

Tonight Occidental (14-8, 8-4 SCIAC) was led by Stephanie Gann with 10 kills, Jessie Altman with 23 assists, and Madyson Cassidy with 17 digs. Natalie Dwulet had the only two solo blocks of the game.

McLogan finished with nine kills, Rohach chipped in with seven and Mo’okini-Oliveira and Tamagni each had six. Overall the Regals hit .248 as a team, led by Fransen’s .714 performances.

Cal Lutheran (22-1, 11-0 SCIAC) will be back on the court on Friday at 7:30 p.m. when they travel to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps to face the No. 23 Athenas.

Box Score: CLU 3, OXY 0
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