Cal Lutheran women's volleyball ran its SCIAC record to 5-0 with a 3-1 win over Occidental on Tuesday, Oct. 6. The Regals now host defending national runner-up La Verne at 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, at Gilbert Arena in Thousand Oaks.
Cal Lutheran (9-6, 5-0 SCIAC) dominated three of four sets against the Tigers, winning 25-10, 24-26, 25-16 and 25-17 at Rush Gymnasium in Los Angeles, according to Cal Lutheran athletics. The five-match winning streak is the program's best SCIAC start since 2015, when the Regals captured the NCAA Division III national championship.
Kennedy Smith led all players with 17 kills and a .405 hitting percentage. Emily Ford added 14 kills on .419 hitting with just one attack error in 31 attempts. Cienna Alvarez chipped in 14 kills, a .346 clip and 12 digs.
The Regals hit .313 as a team.
They held Occidental (7-7, 2-3 SCIAC) to a .135 attack percentage, and their 62 kills were the most in a four-set match this season. The setting duo of Kimmy Wilson and Makenna Kawamura combined for 51 assists. Wilson added four aces, while Kawamura contributed eight digs.
Senior libero Keegan Corley anchored the back row with a match-high 24 digs, six assists and an ace. Corley was named SCIAC Defensive Athlete of the Week for the second straight week on Monday, Oct. 5, after totaling 52 digs across wins over Redlands and Pomona-Pitzer the previous week.
The La Verne Leopards (7-6, 3-2 SCIAC) arrive in Thousand Oaks after beating Babson 3-1 on Friday, Oct. 9. La Verne reached the 2025 NCAA Division III championship match before falling to Wisconsin-Oshkosh 3-0 on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Bloomington, Illinois.
La Verne head coach Randi Taylor-Toomay told the La Verne Campus Times on Friday, Oct. 9, after a 3-2 comeback win over Pomona-Pitzer that her team is "really trying to find our stride" in conference play. Senior opposite Alanna Jones told the same outlet after that match, "We found ourselves, we found our 'why' and our fight, and we were able to pull through."
After Saturday's match, Cal Lutheran travels to Whittier College on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at 7 p.m. The Regals and Leopards meet again Saturday, Nov. 7, at 5 p.m. in La Verne.
