The California Lutheran University women’s volleyball team swept the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens in three matches on senior night.

On Friday, Oct. 26 in Gilbert Arena, the Regals celebrated five seniors on the team: captain and outside hitter Amanda Roberts, captain and setter Steph Rolfson, libero CJ O’Brien, middle back Hannah Cantrell and middle blocker Paris Dosch.

“We really wanted to play for those five girls, so that kind of gave us energy, gave us something to play for,” junior libero Carly Rose Howard said.

Roberts started the Regals off strong with a kill, getting the Regals their first point of match. The Sagehens tried to pull away with four straight points, leading 4-0, but the Regals put six points in a row on the board, thanks to a kill by first-year outside hitter Jordan MacArthur, an ace by Dosch and blocks by first-year right side hitter Samantha Landrum and Cantrell.

The Regals won the first set 25-15.

In the second match, the Regals and the Sagehens went tit for tat, each taking turns in the lead until both teams were tied at 20-20. Two more kills by Roberts, along with several attack errors and bad sets by the Sagehens, helped the Regals come out on top, taking the second set 22-25.

The third set went similarly, each team fighting for the upper hand. Kills by Roberts, first-year middle hitter Maci Haddad and MacArthur led the Regals to pull away from the Sagehens and lead 18-22.

After Pomona-Pitzer called for a timeout, the Regals came back strong, with a kill by sophomore setter Jennifer Kent and two final kills by Haddad to win the third and final set of the match 25-23. 

The Regals beat the Sagehens 3-0 in their final home game of the regular season.

The win was a team effort, with points put on the board by first-years and veterans alike. Roberts led the team with 14 kills and nine digs for a total of 17 of Cal Lutheran’s 50 points. Haddad had 10 kills and two digs, contributing 10 total points for the Regals. Rolfson and Kent added 13 and 19 assists, respectively, while Howard and Kent had 10 and 15 digs.

Howard said the energy they have during games reflects the energy they put into practices.

“We compete so hard against each other every single day. It is a battle in this gym—we want to win every single drill, so that really carries over into the games,” Howard said.

Going into this match, Roberts said it was “nerve-wracking” because the team needed to win in order to secure their spot in playoffs.

“This was a very important game for us to make the postseason, so there’s a lot of nerves going on and emotions,” Roberts said.

After the win, the Regals take the No. 2 spot in SCIAC with an overall record of 17-10 and a conference record of 11-5.

Roberts said she is looking forward to going up against some tougher teams in the postseason.

“Postseason play is always the best because every single game is a fight, and every single game, you’re just working so hard and that’s what you play volleyball for…for the tough five-set matches,” Roberts said.

The Regals will face Chapman University at home in the SCIAC semifinals on Thursday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m.

Alejandra Gonzalez
Reporter

Brooke Stanley 
Sports Editor