California Lutheran University’s Regals volleyball team (7-1) swept the University of California, Santa Cruz Banana Slugs (6-5) 3-0 Saturday night at Gilbert Arena.
This sweep concluded the annual Cal Lu Fornia Invitational, in which the Regals swept all three teams they faced. The win against the Banana Slugs also marked the Regals’ seventh consecutive regular season win.
Head Coach Kellee Roesel said she believed this match would be a good one, but the team knew what they had to do to set up a win.
“They are a good blocking team, they are physical, but we knew if we could serve aggressively and get them out of system, we would be in a much better place,” Roesel said.
This strategy worked in the Regals’ favor as they held the Banana Slugs for a 3-0 match.
“We are going to celebrate tonight. Being able to sweep through a tournament with really good teams is, you know, something that we had hoped for, but certainly don’t talk about,” Roesel said.
The Regals finished the tournament fueled by their wins earlier that weekend, sophomore outside hitter Kennedy Smith said.
“It felt really good. I feel like the energy really rolled over from yesterday and this morning, afternoon. I thought the bench and everyone on the team was just really ready to go,” Smith said. “We were ready to end the weekend 3-0 and just hungry for everything.”
Smith ended the tournament with a total of 31 kills and 6 aces, and said her success this weekend felt really good, but that she could not have done it without the support of the girls behind her.
Senior setter Kylee Grimm, who totaled 41 assists in the tournament, said the team’s offensive growth stood out in the match.
“Honestly, I think our offensive game has just been really on it. I feel like all season so far, our defense has been on it, but our offense, we’ve been really working on a ton this past week, so I think that really showed tonight and really helped us,” Grimm said.
Roesel said the bench was another standout of the game, keeping the courtside energy high and positive.
“Those kids are live, they bring energy to this team, they are so enthusiastic, they love it so much, and they push these kids every single day in practice,” Roesel said. “I can’t say enough about our bench this weekend. They are the best bench in the nation.”
This energy was seen from the stands, as those not in the game continued on with dances, chants and words of encouragement towards their teammates. Cal Lutheran’s Kingsmen volleyball team also joined in with chants and cheers from the stands. Grimm said the Kingsmen and Regals have an ongoing rivalry with the Banana Slugs, which is especially why the teams attend each other’s games to support.
“They definitely hyped us up a lot and made us feel good and supported throughout the whole game,” Smith said.
Grimm said the energy from the Kingsmen helped the Regals as a team, and that the support from the stands is something the Regals want more of.
“The energy from the crowd was insane,” Grimm said. “Anyone we can get to come to our games, we want. We love the support and that kind of helps fuel our energy and fire us up even more.”
The Regals will next face Westcliff University in an exhibition match in Irvine, California on Tuesday, Sept. 23, at 6 p.m. To open Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play, the Regals will head back out on the road to face Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Friday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m.
