One day after defeating Occidental College in the SCIAC Tournament Semifinal round, the University of La Verne faced top-seeded and tournament host Cal Lutheran in Saturday's final.
The Regals prevailed over the Leopards, winning in three sets by scores of 25-20, 25-19 and 25-19 to earn the SCIAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
CLU middle blocker Allison Kerr torched the Leopards with a .714 hitting percentage en route to a 15-kill performance. Casy McWhirk added 12 kills in the three-set win. As a team, the Regals hit .381 for the match as they improved to 27-3 on the season.
The Leopards were paced by Randi Taylor-Toomay, who registered 9 kills on the evening. Anna Calmer added 8 kills with teammate Tiffany Johnstone collecting 7 kills. The Leopard middle blocker duo of Catie Logan and Danielle Maxwell contributed with 6 kills each. Setter Kendall Kraiss tallied 29 assists for the Leos in the loss.
La Verne (19-11) saw its seven-match win come to an end against CLU. The Leopards' last defeat had also come to the Regals in a four-set defeat at home on October 22. After three straight losses to open the season, Cal Lu has won 27 matches as they head into postseason play.
The Leopards will have to wait to see if their streak of 10 straight NCAA Tournament appearances will continue when the pairings are announced on Monday, November 8.
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