Myriah Kunipo-Aguirre stretches for a dig in the Dons non-conference match against Cal Lutheran.
Myriah Kunipo-Aguirre stretches for a dig in the Dons non-conference match against Cal Lutheran.
September 24, 2014

Dons Rally Late but Fall to Cal Lutheran in Four Sets

With a win in the second set, the Dons extended the match and seemed poised to force a fifth set before ultimately falling 25-22 in the fourth.

Box Score

SANTA ANA - For the second straight match, the Dons hosted a Division II program in Cook Gym but were unable to duplicate the results as they fell to visiting Cal Lutheran's JV team in four sets. The final scores were 25-15, 19-25, 25-18 and 25-22.

Cal Lutheran (3-3) opened the match with three-straight points before pulling out to an early 9-3 lead. The Dons (3-4) answered with a rally, led by Esther Arroyo with two kills, a block and a service ace, to pull the set even at 10-10.

But the Regals had another 3-0 rally to reclaim the lead at 13-10 before holding off another push by the Dons. Finally, the Regals closed out the set with a 10-1 run to win by a score of 25-15.

In the second set, Cal Lutheran held an early 4-1 before the Dons made a 5-0 run to take a 6-4 lead. It was a Chloe Anderson kill that gave the Dons their first lead of the match at 5-4 during that run.

From there, the Dons would extend their lead to 12-6 on an Iliana Mendoza kill before pulling away to a commanding 20-13 lead. The set's final point, that gave the Dons the 25-19 win, came on a block by Anderson and Fernanda Ruiz, as the Dons evened the match at 1-1.

It was the Dons that held the early lead in the third set with an Arroyo block giving SAC a 6-2 lead. But the Regals would answer with an 11-0 run to take a 13-6 lead. The Dons battled back, cutting the lead to one at 17-16, but Cal Lutheran would pull away once again to claim the set 25-18.

The Dons again held the early lead in the fourth set with Myriah Kunipo-Aguirre's service ace putting SAC up 4-2 but the Regals came back to tie the set at 6-6. The teams traded the lead from there up to a 13-13 tie that would be broken by the Regals.

Cal Lutheran seemed poised to run away with the match from there as they took a 22-15 lead. But the Dons would mount one final rally, led by Mendoza to pull within one at 23-22. That run was capped off by three-straight kills by Mendoza. However, the Regals snapped the run and closed out the set, and the match, with a 25-22 win.