THOUSAND OAKS, CA — The University of La Verne volleyball team scored a huge win Wednesday night, rallying from a two-set deficit to defeat the No. 15 Cal Lutheran Regals in their SCIAC opener.
Set Scores: 18-25, 16-25, 25-23, 25-18, 15-10
Season Impact
La Verne scores their second win over a top-15 opponent this season. The Leopards took down then No. 9 Southwestern in their season opener. La Verene improves to 5-4 overall and starts SCIAC play 1-0.
The Regals fall to 6-3 overall and 0-1 in the conference.
Stat Leaders
Senior Kelsie Sievers led La Verne with 16 kills. Freshman Haley Celaya added 13 kills and sophomore Emma Estigoy put down 12 kills.
Madison Maynes dished out 42 assists with 16 digs. Senior Kristen Sanchez finished with 28 digs and seven assists
The Leopards hit .346 in the deciding set. Cal Lutheran was led by Amanda Roberts and Paris Dosch who both tallied 13 kills
From the Coach
"Tonight was a hard fought match-up between two great teams," said head coach Jenna Panatier. "After losing the first two sets we knew we had to refocus our efforts and play in our system. I'm really proud of our team for staying together and fighting through to the end."
How it Happened
The Leopards struggled early hitting .182 and .027 respectively in the first two sets to fall into a must-win situation early. La Verne battled in the third frame to avoid the sweep. Trailing 23-22, the Leopards closed out on a 3-0 run sparked by a Sanchez kill and then benefitted from a pair of attack error by the Regals.
In the fourth set tied 15-15, La Verne went on a 10-3 run to even the match 2-2. Julia Trujillo added an ace during the stretch and a kill by Maynes put the set away.
La Verne pulled away in the fifth with another ace by Trujillo and a kill by Celaya to send the Leopard bench onto the floor to celebrate.
Next Game
The road ahead won't get any easier for La Verne. The Leopards next host Nationally ranked #3 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Tuesday, September 18 at 7 p.m in the Tents.
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