NAPERVILLE, Ill.— The Cal Lutheran men's volleyball team suffered two losses as the Kingsmen fell to No. 7 North Central and No. 5 Dominican by the same score of 3-0. North Central hosted the triangular on Saturday afternoon in Gregory Arena.
The Kingsmen continued their rough stretch against ranked competition. They have lost three straight games, all to top-10 teams, and are now 4-6 on the season.
Versus North Central
The Kingsmen found themselves in a quick hole as the Cardinals took an 8-3 lead in the first set. North Central had its biggest lead of the set at 18-8, before ultimately taking the set with a score of 25-19.
Cal Lutheran again proved they can play with the top teams in the nation as set two had 15 ties and eight lead changes. With the score tied at 17, the Cardinals scored four straight. CLU fought back and trailed 24-23, but an error by the Kingsmen gave the Cardinals the set two win.
CLU opened set three on a 4-0 run and were up by as much as 8-3. North Central chipped away at the lead and eventually tied up the set at 17. The score was tied 10 times from 17-17 to 28-28. NCC had the final say as the Cardinals won the set 30-28 and took the match 3-0.
Andrew Reina and Patrick Rowe led the attack with 13 kills apiece. Justin Dietrich played a key part at the net and added seven kills and a team-high four blocks. Grant Nelson kept the offense going with 25 assists.
On the defensive end, Reina tallied a team-high seven digs, and Rowe and Dasmen Stewart both chipped in with six each. Brendan Ward was second on the team with three blocks.
The Kingsmen had a tough offensive outing and combined for a hitting percentage of .156. North Central, on the other hand, took advantage of the Kingsmen errors and also hit with a .288 clip.
Versus Dominican
There five ties and five lead changes before the 20th point between both teams was scored. Dominican took the lead at 10-9 and led for the rest of the set. With DU up 13-12, the Stars went on a 7-4 run and had a 20-16 lead. The breathing room allowed Dominican to win the set 25-19.
In the second set, DU doubled up the Kingsmen at 8-4. CLU cut the lead to one, before Domincan opened up its biggest lead of the set. The Stars were up 10-9 and scored nine of the next 10 points and had a 19-10 lead. DU used the momentum from the run and took the second set 25-14. The third set was kep closer, but the Kingsmen weren't able to pull out a win. The Stars won the third set 25-19 and the match 3-0.
The offense wasn't clicking for the Kingsmen as they hit with a -.092 hitting percentage. Every Kingsmen hit .000 or worse. Dominican hit .274 with three Stars' hitting over .315.
Cal Lutheran looks to end its losing streak against Benedictine on Sunday. The Eagles host the Kingsmen at 10 a.m. Pacific Standard Time.
Box Score: NCC 3, CLU 0; DU 3, CLU 0
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director
