New Partnership With Sheraton

The University of La Verne volleyball team took a 2-0 set advantage on Cal Lutheran but could not hold on as the Regals rallied to take the next three sets and the match over the Leopards Friday night at Gilbert Arena in Thousand Oaks.

La Verne won the opening two sets 25-16 and 25-20 before the Regals bounced back 29-27, 25-20 and 15-13 in sets 3-5. 

In the fifth set the Leos trailed 8-5 but rallied to grab a 13-12 lead.  But Cal Lutheran responded by taking the next three points to earn victory and improve to 15-10 on the year and 7-3 in the SCIAC.   The Leopards fall to 17-12 overall and 7-4 in conference play.

The loss halted the Leopards' season-high win streak at six matches.  La Verne has dropped six of its eight five-set matches this season including all three in conference play.

La Verne hit .214 for the match compared to .146 for CLU.  The Leopards also registered 10.5 blocks with the Regals recording 9 blocks.  Cal Lu held a 88-84 edge in digs on the evening.

The Leopards enjoyed hitting percentages of .280 and .267 in the first two frames.  In the third set they held a match point at 25-24 before the Regals took the next two points.  Tied at 27-27, CLU took the set on a kill followed by a block to cut the deficit to 2-1.

In the fourth stanza, the Leos trailed 16-12 before taking seven of the next nine points to lead 19-18.  But the Regals closed out the set by grabbing seven of the next eight points to earn a 25-20 win to send the match into a deciding fifth frame.

La Verne was led by Crista Jones who totaled a match-high 23 kills while freshman Randi Toomay added 17 in the defeat.  Yesenia Lopez registered 24 assists with Kendall Kraiss posting 22 assists.  Erin Exline collected a team-high 20 kills for the Regals with teammates Allison Kerr and Rachel Smith contributing 16 and 11 kills, respectively.

The Leopards return home next Tuesday to take on Pomona-Pitzer in SCIAC action beginning at 7:30 pm.

Boxscore