Lutes Rebound With Two Wins at Boxer Kickoff

FOREST GROVE, Ore. - Pacific Lutheran rebounded from Saturday's tough first day at the Boxer Kickoff Volleyball Invitational by sweeping a pair of opponents on Sunday.

The No. 14-ranked Lutes, who host four-set matches to No. 12-ranked Cal State-East Bay and No. 25-ranked Christopher Newport on Saturday, defeated UC Santa Cruz 13-25, 25-11, 25-18, 25-18, and Neuman (Pa.) 25-15, 25-14, 25-12.

PLU 3, UC Santa Cruz 1

Box Score

Pacific Lutheran rebounded from a shocking first set loss to take out UC Santa Cruz in four sets. The Banana Slugs scored 14 kills in the opener, while the Lutes hit -.054, committing six errors against four kills. The Lutes came back with a vengeance in the second set, smashing 15 kills against just one error. While the Slugs stayed close in the third and fourth sets, they could never overcome PLU's solid hitting. Beth Hanna led PLU with 14 kills, most set up by Sarah Beavers, who finished with 37 assists. Brenna Archibald continued her outstanding play with 14 digs.

PLU 3, Neumann 0

Box Score

Pacific Lutheran finished the tournament with a convincing victory over Neumann. The Lutes were impressive at the net, registering a .291 attack percentage and committing just 10 attack errors in the match. The Knights, meanwhile, could not find their offensive groove, hitting -.019. Freshman outside hitter Kelsie Moore led PLU with 10 kills, while junior middle blocker Kelcy Joynt registered a .529 attack percentage with six kills in 11 attempts. Brenna Archibald finished with 16 digs and Sarah Beaver added 32 assists.

Pacific Lutheran, now 2-2 for the season, heads to Southern California next weekend where it will play four matches in the Pacific Coast Classic hosted by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps College in Claremont, Calif.

(Courtesy of Pacific Sports Information Office)