Lancers Block Out the Knights

Thursday, November 3

Riverside, Calif.

7 p.m.

California Baptist University

Academy of Art

Photo by: Jacob Gonzalez

Lancers Block Out the Knights

11/3/2016 9:11:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A historic night of defensive prowess at the net led California Baptist University to a four-set win over Academy of Art in Thursday's PacWest match in the Van Dyne Gym.

The fifth-ranked Lancers in the NCAA Division II West Region came close to topping its single-match record for blocks in their 23-25, 25-16, 25-12, 25-17 win over the Urban Knights. CBU posted 18 blocks, which is tied for the fourth most in single-match history and just two off the record.

"All week long, we have been working on our blocking," middle blocker Abbie Gortsema said. "Our scout really paid off for us tonight."

Gortsema and Jenna Perry each logged nine blocks, while Jessica Harris put down eight and Lauren Hackett chipped in five. All those blocks helped hold ART U to a .056 hitting percentage, while the Lancers hit .359 themselves.

"One of the big things was that our pins were seeing set locations well," Coach Branden Higa said of the night's success. "The hitters were seeing it well and the middles were closing really, really hard. They were flying in there with reckless abandon, and it was nice to see it pay off."

With six regular-season matches left, four of which are at home, the Lancers improved to 17-5, 12-2 in the PacWest and ART U slipped to 6-17, 4-10. Concordia still leads the PacWest at 22-2, 13-2, heading into Saturday's huge matchup between CBU and the Eagles Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Van Dyne Gym.

"Every match is a big match and that's our focus, what's next, who's next; we're just trying to go 1-0 each day," Higa said. "Every team wants to be in our spot right now. We have a lot of tough matches left, but the good thing is they have to come through Van Dyne and have to come through us."

Perry nearly polished off a triple-double in the win, with 14 kills on a .306 percentage (14-3-36), 10 digs and those nine blocks. Sydney Kralj collected a double-double, as well, with 42 assists, 16 digs and four kills.

Hackett recorded 15 kills on a .481 mark (15-2-27), nine digs and two aces. Tori Ortman collected 10 digs and two aces.

The Urban Knights may have won the first set, but CBU quickly put that out of mind with a 10-2 run to start set two. Three team blocks and six points from Perry (four kills, two blocks) created the separation for the Lancers.

"Our focus changed after that first set, we really locked in and it felt good," Gortsema said.

ART U fought back within five, 10-5, before CBU used an 8-4 run to pull ahead 18-9. Two kills, a block and ace from Hackett fueled the late charge toward victory.

In set three, the Lancers kept a grip on the momentum with a 12-1 run right out of the gate. Three blocks from Harris sparked that rally, and the Knights would not come closer than eight the rest of the way.

CBU's run came a little later in set four, with a 6-1 spurt giving the home team a 10-7 lead. Four points from Hackett highlighted that run. The Knights did not let the Lancers get too far away and trailed by two, 17-15. Hackett caught fire down the stretch and sparked a 5-0 run with three kills to put CBU up comfortably, 22-15, for the four-set win.