ARLINGTON, Va.— The Cal Lutheran men's volleyball team wrapped up their East Coast trip with a 3-0 sweep of the Marymount Saints on Sunday morning at the Converse Fieldhouse. The scores of the match were 25-13, 25-19, 25-15.
The Kingsmen improved to 13-9 on the season and dropped Marymount to 12-14. Cal Lutheran went 4-1 on their East Coast trip which was highlighted by a 3-2 win against No. 4 Stevens.
CLU controlled the net and hit with a .240 percentage while holding the Saints to a negative clip (-.143). The Kingsmen showed off their strong play at the net and recorded 13 total team blocks, compared to only one from Marymount.
The first set was tied four times early on. With the score knotted at 5, Cal Lutheran used a 5-1 run and grabbed the lead. The Kingsmen were dominant at the net as Kelly Jew and Justin Dietrich swatted down kills. The duo also combined for a block and then added another with the help of Andrew Reina. CLU opened up the lead a little bit later as back-to-back kills from Grant Nelson and Brendan Ward made the score 16-10. The Kingsmen claimed the first set 25-13 and had the 1-0 match lead.
The Kingsmen experienced some adversity in the second set. After being up 7-4, Marymount made a run and took a 13-8 lead. Cal Lutheran fired back with a run of their own, scoring six of the next seven points, and tied the set at 14. Ward and Reina tallied a block and Dietrich and Jew combined for back-to-back blocks.
The Kingsmen kept coming and eventually came all the way back to take the lead. Reina and Dietrich recorded kills, Marymount had two errors, and CLU was up 18-15. Cal Lutheran was able to hold of the Saints as Jew tallied back-to-back kills and gave the Kingsmen a 23-19 lead. CLU finished off the set, winning 25-19, and took a 2-0 lead in the match. Cal Lutheran carried that momentum in to the third set and won easily, 25-15, and won the match 3-0.
Dietrich led the well-rounded attack with eight kills and hit with a .500 clip. Ward was next with six kills, and had a hitting percentage of .667, and Jew and Reina had five kills each. Dietrich and Jew were huge for the Kingsmen at the net and recorded seven and six blocks, respectively. Reina also had four blocks and Ward added three more.
The setter position was split between Nelson and Alec Bennett. Nelson dished out 13 assists and added six digs while Bennett had nine assists and three digs. Eli Moore led the defense with a team-high nine blocks and Reina was next with seven.
Cal Lutheran only has two games left in the season, one at home and one on the road. The Kingsmen return home for Senior Night in Thursday, April 4, and will face Moorpark College and 7 p.m.
Box Score: CLU 3, MU 0
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director
