Regals Volleyball splits weekend games against Occidental, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps

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The Regals celebrate after scoring a point against Occidental (Photo by Karly Kiefer-Reporter)

Karly Kiefer, Reporter

The California Lutheran University Regals volleyball team won its second game in a row in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference on Friday, Sept. 24, against Occidental College.

The team is on a winning streak after defeating University of Redlands last Tuesday, making their overall record on the season 4-8.ย 

In the first set, the Regals maintained ball control with senior libero Julia Trento ending the set with an ace serve.ย ย 

โ€œI thought our passing and serving was a lot better, we have been working on that and our defensive was good,โ€ Head Coach Kellee Roesel said.ย 

The Regals get set as they await Occidental’s serve (Photo by Karly Kiefer-Reporter)

The Regals accumulated 46 digs with sophomore libero Isabella Wade having 19 of them.ย 

Keeping up strong defense, Cal Lutheran dominated the first set 25-13.ย ย 

With executing 11 total kill attacks during the match, senior middle hitter Maci Haddad said they did very well as a team.ย 

โ€œI am happy with myself and my hitting and blocking. I wanted to get a few blocks per set and feel I accomplished my goal,โ€ Haddad said.

With major back and forth rallies between the Occidental Tigers, the Regals were able to come out conquering the second set 25-18 and the third set 25-19.ย 

During the match, the Regals had a total of 38 kills and 22 block assists from the front row.

These last two games in the SCIAC have given the team increased self-assurance said junior middle hitter Christina Williams.

โ€œI thought this game was a big confidence boost and will help lead us into the conference with energy to do well,โ€ Williams said.ย 

The team is working in the right direction to kick the season off Roesel said.ย 

โ€œI am very impressed by their grit and think they are starting to do the things we want them to do and are progressing,โ€ Roesel said.ย 

With back-to-back wins, the Regals felt they had good energy and communication on the court.ย 

โ€œWe didnโ€™t play down to anyoneโ€™s level,โ€ Haddad said.

The Regals energy was shown through their 37 aces made during the match.

โ€œI think overall, we all communicated very well and just put the ball away,โ€ Williams said.

The Regals ended the weekend with a loss in straight sets against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Saturday, Sept. 25.ย 

Although they had 32 kills, the team concluded with 18-25 in the first set, a close 22-25 in the second set and 13-25 in the final set.ย ย 

As a result, this leads the Regals to have a 4-9 record and be 2-1 in the SCIAC.ย