The Cal Lutheran men's volleyball team won the 2024 NCAA Division III National Championship on Sunday, April 28 in Dubuque, Iowa.
The Kingsmen defeated the Vassar College Brewers to win the national championship, 3-0. The scores of the match were 25-22, 25-23, 25-23. The Kingsmen won with a reverse sweep by Stevens followed by a sweep by Vassar.
Michael Staal was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Jordan Cooper, Taylor Marks and Logan Marks joined Staal's all-tournament team.
Head coach Kevin Judd said, “The Kingsmen can now call themselves champions.” “17-strong. The last two weeks have shown we are 17-strong.”
Staal was impressive with 23 kills while posting a .525 attack percentage. Ben Weber and Cooper were next with 7 kills, Boris Horiuk with 5 kills, Parker Brown with 3 kills and T. Marks with 1 kill.
Taylor Marks continued the Kingsman offense with a double-double. He had 43 assists and scored a team-high 10 goals. Logan Marks was next with eight digs. Horiuk had a total of four blocks, two of which were solo. Cooper, Staal and Matthew Wilcox added solo blocks.
Trent Rigney and Jake Tucker also appeared. Tucker had a big dig that led to a kill in the third set. The top 17 also includes Vince Seamon, Connor Crawford, Grant Hughes, Braden Swenningsen, Ryker Lynn, Landen Menske and Noah Rigo.
For more information, visit CLUsports.com.