CLU Moves Forward in Reverse

Cal Lutheran lost a nonconference five-game match to The Master’s at home on Thursday night. Twenty minutes later, though, the Regals won it.

The reversal came after a disputed call by head referee David Nystrom was challenged. With the fifth game tied at 15-15, the Regals’ Tracy Little let her first service attempt drop. Given a replay, she served successfully on her second attempt and Cal Lutheran scored for a 16-15 lead.

On her next serve, she again let the first attempt drop. Her second was successful and led to a Liz Martinez kill and an apparent 17-15 victory.

But Nystrom took back the last point and awarded it to the Mustangs, saying Little illegally had two replays of service in the same possession. At 16-16, Master’s scored twice and the match seemed over.

However, Cal Lutheran protested Nystrom’s call, pointing out that a point had been scored between Little’s two serves, making each a separate possession.

Twenty minutes later, the protest was upheld, the scores were reversed and the Regals got their eighth win in a row, 13-15, 2-15, 15-5, 15-3, 17-15.

Little had 19 kills for the Regals (18-3) and Karen Kasper had 10. Janelle Mason and Wendy Jones led Master’s (27-10) with 10 kills each.

Cal State Northridge d. Eastern Washington, 12-15, 16-14, 9-15, 15-5, 15-10--Nancy Ma had 22 kills and 21 digs for the Matadors in a Big Sky Conference match at Northridge.

Getty Dimitrova had 21 kills and six digs for Northridge (14-9, 11-0) and setter Heather Hofmans added 66 assists and 27 digs.

The victory was the Matadors’ 14th in the last 15 matches.

GIRLS’ VOLLEYBALL

Hart d. Burroughs, 15-5, 15-3, 15-13--Wendy Dalton had seven kills and Hart clinched at least a tie for its first-ever Foothill League title.

Candace Boller added six kills for the Indians (13-1, 8-0).

Harvard-Westlake d. Alemany, 15-13, 18-16, 15-4--Malaika Naulls had 10 kills and Michelle Wong added nine for the Wolverines in a Mission League match at Harvard-Westlake.

Christine Bohle, who missed eight matches because of a hernia, had six kills in her return for the Wolverines (13-1, 8-0).

Buena d. Oxnard, 15-9, 11-15, 15-2, 15-7--Becky Butler had 12 kills and Micaela Miller added 29 assists for the Bulldogs (9-5, 8-4) in a Channel League match at Oxnard (2-10, 2-10).

Hueneme d. Rio Mesa, 15-7, 15-11, 15-9--Tami Campbell had 19 kills, eight digs and six solo blocks for visiting Hueneme (5-7 in league) in a Channel League match.

La Canada d. San Marino, 15-2, 6-15, 15-7, 15-9--Emily Dalbeck had 13 kills for the Spartans (8-4, 7-1) in a Rio Hondo League match at La Canada.

Bell-Jeff d. Cantwell, 15-0, 5-15, 15-4, 9-15, 15-0--Lari Williams had eight kills and Jaclyn Johnson added seven kills for the Guards (7-5, 6-2) in a Camino Real League match.

Highland d. Quartz Hill, 15-4, 15-8, 15-9--Josie Wilson led Highland (9-4, 7-0) with 11 kills in a Golden League match at Quartz Hill. Jennifer Crosier added 26 assists.

La Reina d. Oak Park, 15-4, 15-5, 13-15, 15-3--Alyssa Hain had nine kills and 18 assists for the Regents (16-0, 8-0) in her first match back from a separated shoulder.

Kennedy d. Taft, 15-4, 15-2, 15-2--Christine Thach had eight kills and Stephanie Ong had 23 assists and eight aces for the Golden Cougars in a Northwest Valley Conference match at Taft.

Kennedy (11-0, 8-0) clinched the conference title. Taft is 3-8, 2-6.

Granada Hills d. Cleveland, 16-14, 15-7, 15-5--Michelle Ferrucci had nine blocks and five aces, and Lindy Gayton added seven kills for the Highlanders (8-3, 5-3) in a Northwest Valley Conference match at Granada Hills.

BOYS’ CROSS-COUNTRY

Van Nuys 27, Monroe 28--Viking senior Ali Benmohamed placed first with a personal best of 15 minutes 28 seconds over the three-mile course at Pierce College, but Van Nuys placed five runners among the top eight finishers to win the Valley Pac-8 Conference meet.

Benmohamed cut 21 seconds from his previous best for Monroe (4-1, 2-1).

GIRLS’ CROSS-COUNTRY

Kennedy 27, Cleveland 28--Bree Akesson clocked 18:18 over the three-mile course to lead the Golden Cougars (3-0 in conference) to victory in the Northwest Valley Conference meet at Pierce College.

Birmingham 20, Taft 37--Sophomore Tiffany Burgess placed first with a time of 19:07 over the three-mile course as defending City Section champion Birmingham (12-0, 3-0) took four of the top five places in the Northwest Valley Conference meet at Pierce College.

Runner-up Jackie Tillmon (19:42) also broke 20 minutes for the Braves.

GIRLS’ TENNIS

Granada Hills 6, Taft 1--Karen Fung moved to 12-0 with a victory at No. 3 singles for Granada Hills (12-0, 9-0) in a Northwest Valley Conference match at Taft.

La Reina 13, Oak Park 5--Lauren Dickey swept her singles matches for La Reina (9-2, 8-0) in a Tri-Valley League match.