THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Texas Lutheran Volleyball bested No. 18 Chapman in a five-set thriller before losing 3-0 to No. 10 California Lutheran in the final day of the California Lutheran Invitational on Saturday.

Texas Lutheran defeated Chapman 25-23, 25-22, 18-25, 20-25, 15-10 before falling to Cal Lutheran 14-25, 20-25, 11-25.

The split moved the Bulldogs' record to 5-2 on the year. They finished the weekend's tournament 3-1.

Texas Lutheran was sharp from the get-go against the No. 18-ranked team in the country. The Bulldogs took the opening two sets before Chapman rebounded to win the next two. It all came down to a winner-take-all fifth set and the Bulldogs proved up to the challenge, thoroughly controlling the final frame and closing out the upset.

"The girls played their hearts out tonight," Texas Lutheran coach Tiffany Davis said. "We came back with more pride and heart than I've ever seen them play with after they took the third and fourth sets. I am so proud of the girls and especially the way they came out in that fifth game and dominated. It was a really great win."

The win was Texas Lutheran's fifth straight after dropping the season-opener.

Vanecia Spencer (Grandview, Texas) was absolutely dominant against Chapman, leading the Bulldogs with 19 kills. She was extremely accurate with those attacks too, only making two attack errors and hitting .330. She also chipped in with a block and an assist.

The other half of the Bulldogs' lethal attacking tandem was Brette Threadgill (Sinton, Texas). The sophomore was right behind Spencer with 17 kills of her own. She finished the day with .160 hitting.

As a team, Texas Lutheran hit .180 and tallied 70 kills. The Bulldogs also notched six blocks.

Manda Martin (Burnet, Texas) controlled the offense as usual, recording a team-leading 34 assists. Megan Lee (Universal City, Texas) led the team with 38 digs.

The good times would not keep rolling against No. 10 California Lutheran as the Bulldogs tried to beat another ranked team right after their match against Chapman.

Against Cal Lutheran, TLU was held to .104 hitting and tallied 24 assists. Martin was the leader with 20 of those assists.

Spencer continued her strong weekend, leading the team with nine kills (.154 hitting). No other Bulldog had more than four kills against the Regals.

Texas Lutheran will return home from the west coast and host a SCAC/ASC cross-conference tournament on Saturday, Sept. 14. The Bulldogs will take on both the University of Texas at Dallas and Concordia Texas on Saturday.