CLU Sports

REDLANDS, Calif. - Down to its final set the Cal Lutheran volleyball team rallied back from a 2-1 deficit for a 3-2 victory over the University of Puget Sound in the first round of the NCAA Division III Volleyball Championship in Redlands on Thursday. CLU made 30 combined errors in its first and third set losses and just 14 total errors in its wins in sets two, four and five.

Box Score: CLU 3, UPS 2 - F

The Regals dropped the first set 25-16 after committing 16 total errors. Ten attack errors, two service errors, two reception errors, one blocking error and one ball handling error led to a .071 hitting percentage to open the match.

"I told them we made every mistake we could make out there," CLU Head Coach Kellee Roesel told her team after the first set. "I also said that if we are going to have a game like that, the first set is the time to have it."

Experience prevailed in the second set as CLU senior Cori Hayes and juniors Allison Kerr and Erin Exline combined for 12 kills on 15 attempts with no errors to lead the Regals in a 25-14 win. As a team CLU hit .308 for the set with 16 kills on 39 attempts and just four attack errors.

Exline finished with a match-high 18 kills on 33 attempts with three errors for a match-best .455 attack percentage.

"I just played my game and tried to have fun out there," Exline said about making adjustments from set one to set two. "We are really close as a team and it makes situations like that easier."

A 14-error set three led to a 25-21 loss and put CLU in a 2-1 hole with the season on the line.

Down to their final set, CLU hit .295 with 16 kills and just three errors en route to a 25-18 set four win. With the fourth set tied at 11-11, CLU rallied off five straight points behind kills from junior Megan Thorpe and Hayes followed by three consecutive UPS attack errors.

CLU freshman setter Jackie Russell dished out 51 assists and added 12 digs in her first career NCAA playoff match. Fellow freshman Rachel Smith notched 12 kills and a match-high 25 digs in her first appearance.

"Jackie was inconsistent in the beginning but the good thing about Jackie and Rachel is they both learn from their mistakes," Roesel said. "Those kids are able to make adjustments and they did a great job at the end."

The Regals carried their momentum from set four into the fifth and final set, jumping out to a 5-0 lead after a Smith kill to open play and an ace from the freshman made it 3-0. Kerr and Thorpe followed with back-to-back kills.

CLU reached match-point at 14-10 but a pair of UPS kills cut the lead to 14-12 and forced Roesel to take a timeout. Out of the timeout the Regals punched their ticket into the west region semifinal on a kill from Hayes on the right side.

Kerr finished with 10 kills and eight digs including three crucial digs that led to three consecutive points in the second set.

Thorpe had eight kills and 14 digs. Senior Bridgette Redmond entered as libero to begin the second set and finished the match with 21 digs.

Hayes totaled 13 kills on 36 attempts with two errors for a .306 attack percentage. She added three assists and two block assists.

Cal Lutheran (21-11) who entered as the No. 5 seed in the region knocked of the four-seed Loggers and will face the No. 1 seed Colorado College (33-4) on Friday at 4:30 p.m. in the NCAA West Region Championship semifinal.