While hosting a collection of some of the top competition in the nation, Cal Lutheran came out with two 1-3 losses on Saturday.
In the first match, against the Bennies of the College of Saint Benedict, the Regals claimed the first set with a strong 25-13 win. The offense came out swinging with purpose for a team hitting percentage of .375 on the set.
From there momentum began to shift with the second set being a tight battle. The Bennies began to control play at the net with 17 team kills to Cal Lutheran's 10 in route to a 25-23 victory.
The third and fourth sets saw the Bennies continue to find more ways to terminate rallies. The Regals struggled to terminate rallies at the same pace as their opponent with the Bennies collecting 16 kills in each set compared to the Regal's 8 and 10. Both sets concluded with 25-19 wins for Saint Benedict and a 3-1 Bennies win.
The Regals were led on offense by Lauren Heller with 9 kills and Morgan Given with 7. Heller also managed 18 digs to follow Isabella Wade's team leading 21.
Saturday's second match was against the Bears of Washington University of Saint Louis.
The Regals and Bears played an offense heavy first set with 16 and 18 team kills respectively. The teams traded points up to a 25-25 tie. A Wash U. kill and a Cal Lutheran error ended the set for the Bears 27-25.
The Regals jumped out to a 12-6 lead in the second set behind a 6 point serving run by Kennedy Crane. The Bears managed a number of short runs to tie the game at 17 all. Wash U. edged ahead to 23-20 and pushed to the end of the set for a 25-22 win.
The Regals block held the, previously, strong Wash U. offense to a -.032 hitting percentage in the third set. That strong performance at the net allowed the Regals to take control of the set and cruise to a 25-15 win.
Set 4 saw the Bears get an early lead of 7-1. With neither team able to generate consistent offense from that point the bears held control until the score of 20-11. The Regals tried to pull back working their way to only a 5 point deficit at 19-24. The Bears were then able to put the match away with a kill for a 25-19 set win and a 3-1 match win.
Despite the loss the Regals Maci Haddad was a major highlight with a 17 kills on 19 attempts for an incredible .842 hitting percentage to go along with 5 block assists. Isabella Wade continued to lead the with 26 digs.
The Regals will be heading to San Antonio, Texas next weekend to compete in the Trinity University National Invitational.
