Leopards Upset #2 seed Pacific Lutheran In West Regionals
Leopard libero Chelsea Sleight (Kelly Rivas photo)
The University of La Verne rallied from a 1-0 set deficit to earn a 3-1 triumph over #2 seed Pacific Lutheran in first round action of the NCAA West Regionals Thursday at Currier Gymnasium in Redlands.
Set scores were 23-25, 25-18, 27-25 and 25-19.
The Leopards (22-13), the lowest seeded team in the West Region field, advance to Friday's semifinal round and will take on tourney host University of Redlands at 7 pm. Cal Lutheran will face top-seeded Colorado College in the other semifinal at 4:30 pm.
All three SCIAC schools (Redlands, Cal Lutheran, La Verne) were victorious in opening day action.
Crista Jones paced the Leopard attack with a match-high 23 kills with a .327 hitting percentage for the contest. Anna Calmer (14) and Randi Toomay (12) each tallied double figures in kills. Jones also collected 20 digs to post a 20-20 double of 20+ kills and digs for the night. Yesenia Lopez tallied team-highs in assists (28) and digs (21) while Chelsea Sleight added 19 digs.
Pacific Lutheran opened the match hitting .441 while registering
4 total blocks to win the first set 25-23. The Leopards would
storm back in the second frame hitting .282 while registering 6.5
blocks in holding the Lutes to a .091 clip. Jones recorded 9
kills in the second set.
The highly-contested third set ensued, with La Verne gaining the
decisive edge to take a 2-1 lead. Pacific Lutheran led 24-22
with two set points, but La Verne erased the deficit on
consecutive kills from Jones and Calmer to forge a 24-24 tie.
Ashley Morgado followed with a kill to give the Leos a lead and set
point at 25-24. The Lutes tied the set at 25-25, but
Jones put the Leopards ahead to stay with a kill followed by a
service ace to propel the Leos to a 27-25 set triumph.
In the fourth set, La Verne went on 5-1 run to turn a 12-10 deficit into a 15-13 lead. Leading by one at 15-14, the Leopards would win five straight points to take a 20-14 advantage they would not relinquish en route to a 25-19 win to advance to the semifinals.
Pacific Lutheran (20-7) was led offensively by Kelcy Joynt, who collected a team-high 19 kills. Kelsie Moore added 12 kills in the loss.
La Verne hit .244 for the match compared to .203 for the Lutes.
