Top-5 battle goes to CLU on Friday night

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif - In the highly anticipated second matchup of No. 2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and No. 5 Cal Lutheran, the Regals evened the score on the season with a 3-0 victory over the Athenas (25-16, 25-23, 25-18) in Thousand Oaks, Calif. on Friday night. Cal Lu hit .233 compared to CMS' .134 in the match.

The first set saw a number of untimely errors for the Athenas. With only eight kills in the sets, the five hitting errors and two ball handling errors ended up being costly. Still, junior Shelbi Stein (CMC) put down five of those kills to set her up for another highly effective night hitting .471.

The back and forth second set came down to whichever team was going to win two points in a row at the end. The long first point of the set had spectacular digs on both sides of the net and highlighted the athleticism and expertise of both teams. Senior Nicole Kerkhof (CMC) played a much more defensive night and recorded six digs in the second set alone. Juniors libero Mikena Werner (SC) and setter Clara Madsen (CMC) each added four and three digs respectively as the teams went the distance in the set before CLU had the 25-23 lead.

The final stanza started with a strong CMS lead as two CLU hitters made errors on cross-court attacks. The Regals quickly reeled the game back in and came within one at 6-5. Cal Lutheran earned their first lead of the set at 17-16 and then went on an 8-2 run to take the match. Hope Stewart led the Regals with 13 kills, followed by Michelle Lawrence at 11.

Stein led all players with 18 kills on the night, assisted predominantly by Madsen. Junior Sarah Bruml (SC) started the third set, playing in her first match since Sept. 9.

CMS joins Cal Lu and La Verne, all at the top of the SCIAC and each with two losses in conference play. The Athenas (18-2, 10-2 SCIAC) host Pomona-Pitzer (11-9, 7-5 SCIAC) on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. in Roberts Pavilion.

Box Score

By Emily Nordhoff
Sports Information Director

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