TACOMA, Wash. – The Puget Sound volleyball team finished off its home tournament with a Saturday split, losing to Calvin in three sets and defeating Pacific Lutheran in four. The ninth-ranked Loggers improved to 3-1 with wins against two ranked teams this weekend. 

"Calvin is a really good team and we expected them to play really well. That's why they are one of the top teams in the nation," said head coach Mark Massey. "We played really well for about 20 points in each set against them and just lost our focus at the end."

"We didn't like we served quite as tough as we could against Calvin," continued Massey. "We had some players come out and serve really tough to crack that first game open. From then on, I think we had a bit of an edge." 

Match 1 vs. No. 2 Calvin (L, 0-3)

A matchup of top-10 teams went to the higher seed as second-ranked Calvin swept the ninth-ranked Loggers 25-17, 25-22, 25-19 on Saturday afternoon. The Knights (3-0) limited the Loggers to a .030 hitting percentage in the match and collected eight total blocks.

Jackie Harvey had nine kills to lead the Loggers to go along with 12 digs. Marissa Florant had 17 digs and Christina Chun tallied 16 digs for the Loggers. Emily Crowe had a match-high 10 kills and hit .474 to lead the Knights. 

The Knights took control early in the first set and held the Loggers to a negative hitting percentage. The visitors won 25-17 to capture the early lead. In the second set, the Loggers sprinted out to an early lead but couldn't hold on as the Knights leaped out in front later in the set and held on for a 2-0 lead.

The Loggers best set came in the third as they hit .128 to climb into a positive percentage for the match. However, the Knights also had their best set, hitting .279 en route to the clinching win. 

Megan Rietema finished the match with 29 assists, 14 digs and three total blocks to lead the Knights all around the floor. She also had seven digs. Nicolette Reynaud added seven kills and two total blocks for the Loggers.

Match 2 vs. No. 21 PLU (W, 3-1)

The Loggers bounced back in the final match of the weekend with a 25-8, 22-25, 25-22, 25-19 win over No. 21 Pacific Lutheran (1-3). With the win, the Loggers improved to 3-1 over their first week, including two wins against top-25 teams. 

Marissa Florant and Jordan Bird led the Loggers in the tournament finale as they combined for 26 kills.  Florant had 16 kills while hitting .289 in the match and Bird hit an outstanding .440 with 13 kills. Christina Chun also had her highest output of the season with 21 digs.

The Loggers left no doubt in the first set as hit .481 as a team and limited the Lutes to just two kills en route to a 25-8 rout. Bird had five kills to lead the hosts in the set. 

As expected, the Lutes bounced back in the second set and came away with the 25-22 win. Bethany Huston had five kills to lead the Lutes to the equalizing set win. She finished with a team-high eight kills in the match.

The Loggers outlasted the Lutes in the third set to get within one set on the match win. Jenni Brehove started the fourth set with three straight service aces to get the Loggers immediately out in front. 

The advantage went to the Loggers in the serving game as they had 12 aces in the match compared to the Lutes seven. Brehove totaled five in the match while Jackie Harvey had four.

The Lutes would challenge in the final set but the Loggers were ultimately able to maintain control through most of the set and sprint away late for the win. 

Brehove had 44 assists and nine digs to go along with her five aces and four Loggers tallied double digit digs. Nicolette Reynaud pounded down 10 kills.

The Loggers head south next week to Cal Lutheran for another four-match tournament on Friday and Saturday.