GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The 23rd-ranked Pacific Lutheran volleyball team concluded its trip to Michigan with a pair of morning matches Saturday, as the Lutes fell in three sets to tournament host Calvin before bouncing back to end the weekend with a 3-1 victory over Thomas More.
Calvin, ranked No. 1 in the preseason AVCA national poll, defeated the Lutes by set scores of 25-13, 25-22, 25-19. The Lutes followed with a four-set win over Thomas More, defeating the Saints by set scores of 25-22, 25-23, 21-25, 25-19. PLU wraps up the weekend with a 3-2 overall record.
Michaela Edgers led the Lutes with a .588 attack percentage against Thomas More, tallying 11 kills on 17 attempts. Chloe Epker tallied a team-best 14 kills and added 13 digs against the Saints, while Lucy Capron totaled nine kills in the loss to the Knights and added nine more against the Saints. Carpon was named to the all-tournament squad for her performance in the weekend's four matches.
"I thought we played well against Calvin in the second and third sets," PLU head coach Kevin Aoki said. "And we really had a good match against Thomas More, with Michaela having a breakout match. Lucy played in every second of every set to earn all-tourney honors, and I thought Chloe really played well this weekend."
PLU opened the St. Thomas match in strong form, scoring six of the first seven points in the first set. When Thomas More pulled to within one at 11-10, the Lutes responded with an 8-1 run to take an eight-point lead. The Saints battled late to fight off set point seven times, drawing within two before a Rachel Bronner service error closed out the 25-22 set win for the Lutes.
Thomas More scored five of the first seven points in the second set, but PLU quickly rallied to tie it at 6-6 and took its first three-point lead of the set at 11-8 following a service ace by Kendle Valade-Nunez. Again the Saints put together a big late rally, this time using a 9-2 run to turn a 16-12 PLU lead into a 21-18 TMC lead, but PLU closed out the set on a 7-2 run of its own, with a service ace by Kylai Cooley giving the Lutes the 2-0 lead in the match.
The third match featured an astounding 15 tie scores to go with four lead changes as St. Thomas battled to stay alive. PLU led 18-17 before three straight Saints points put TMC on top by two. After the Lutes scored to draw within one TMC used a 5-2 run to force a fourth set. PLU made sure there wouldn't be a fifth, however, as the Lutes opened the fourth set with five straight points that included three kills by Edgers. Thomas More never tied it, and consecutive kills by Epker sealed the 25-19 set and the 3-1 match win for the Lutes.
In the first match, Calvin jumped ahead in the first set and showed why its ranked atop the national poll. The Knights hit .500 in that opening set and pulled away to a 25-13 win. PLU made the next two sets much closer, with Calvin needing a five-point streak late in the second set to try to pull away from a PLU squad that had tied it up at 17-17. A 4-1 Lute run got PLU back within two at 24-22 before the Knights closed it out. The final set was similar, with PLU staying within one as late as 17-16 and hanging within two up until 21-19 before Calvin scored the final four points of the match.
Next up for the Lutes is the Puget Sound Premiere Tournament, as PLU will take on Linfield and Trinity Friday, Sept. 11 at Puget Sound's Memorial Fieldhouse.
