Seventh Annual Cal Lu Fornia Invitational Concludes; Regals Go 3-1

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The 2014 edition of the Cal Lu Fornia Invitational sponsored by Posada Royale is complete after the second consecutive exciting day of volleyball at Cal Lutheran inside of the Gilbert Sports and Fitness Center.

Another 16 matches took place in both the Gilbert Arena and Soiland Recreation Center today. A pair of those went to five sets, none more exciting than a showdown between No. 6 Emory and No. T-23 Mary Hardin-Baylor. The teams exchanged the first four games and the fifth set took extra points as Emory clung on for the 20-25, 25-16, 23-25, 25-21, 16-14 victory. The other match-up that went to five games came from George Fox and Occidental with the Bruins defeating the Tigers 23-25, 25-19, 23-25, 25-13, 15-7.

Seven of the Saturday matches ended with a score of 3-1 while there were five 3-0 sweeps. Among those three-setters were host No. 4 Cal Lutheran over No. 18 Pacific Lutheran, Emory against No. 15 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Mary Hardin-Baylor versus Occidental, Augustana against Chapman and Pacific Lutheran over Redlands.

Emory was the only team to go undefeated with a 4-0 weekend. AC, CLU, UD, PLU and PP all had 3-1 showings.

Cal Lutheran used some early momentum to find a rhythm against Pacific Lutheran and after a close 25-23 game one the Regals settled in and cruised to a pair of 25-18 victories. In the evening match, it was a high-intensity atmosphere in the Gilbert Arena with CLU facing off against No. 14 Trinity and EU and UMHB playing on the next court. Another large crowd was out to support and the energy was apparent.

After dropping the first set 23-25, the Violet and Gold regrouped to take the next three games by 25-12, 25-18 and 25-21 margins. The first set saw Trinity hit at a .238 clip while CLU combined for a .137 percentage, but the tides turned in the second game. The Regals combined to hit an incredible .419 with 16 kills and just three errors while the defensive unit stepped up, limiting TU to a .097 attacking percentage. The momentum shifted and CLU maintained an edge in the final two games to clinch the victory.

A lot of different Regals contributed today in the pair of matches with Michelle Lawrence leading the attack by putting down 30 kills followed by Pua Mo’okini-Oliveira (22), Allie Eason (21), Dianna Rohrer (13) and Sarah Pappas (10). Kennedy Peters set the ball 54 times and Jena Chavez recorded 30 assists. Eason was a force at the service line with seven aces, including six against Trinity. Nicki Tetherow again was a defensive menace, tallying 45 digs for the second straight day. Eason, Lawrence and Peters finished with 30, 26, and 25 digs, respectively. At the net Lawrence recorded four solo blocks while Pappas had a trio by herself and they each had three block assists as well.

The Seventh Annual Cal Lu Fornia Invitational featured many of the top teams in the country as student-athletes competed in 28 total matches over two days. It is very likely that many of these teams will meet again later in the season.

Box Score: CLU 3, PLU 0
Box Score: CLU 3, TU 1
Tournament Central: 2014 Cal Lu Fornia Invitational
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