California Baptist University
UCLA
LOST IN THE LIGHTS
1/30/2008 8:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
LOS ANGELES ? California Baptist just missed knocking off UCLA for the first time in school history, but fell short in a five-game thriller, 3-2 (30-27, 26-30, 18-30, 30-21, 15-12). The Lancers (2-4) out hit the fourth-ranked Bruins for the second straight year, but just like last year the final result stayed the same.
“I was disappointed in our effort tonight,” said CBU head coach Ryan McGuyre. “I felt like in game one UCLA was ready to give it to us and we didn't want to fight back and take it. We were just walking around waiting for things to happen. We weren't serving the way we needed to serve.”
Adiel Tiedjop and Yukai Sun led the way for the Lancers as Tiedjop notched 28 kills and Sun recorded 24. Tiedjop hit a .684 clip (28-2-38). Donald Baliaba also ripped double-figure kills with 14. Eric Plunkett had a match-high 59 assists.
Cory Spence and Adam Church led the defense with Spence notching 14 digs and Church had seven blocks. Baliaba had six blocks while Romain Vetter had five.
UCLA broke a 23-23 tie in the opening game and didn't trail from there through the first. After falling in the opening game, Sun got the Lancers going in the second game ripping eight kills to give the Lancers game two. CBU hit a .324 clip (18-6-37) in the second game. The Lancers broke a 6-6 tie off of a Tiedjop kill to spark a 6-1 run to give CBU a 12-7 lead. UCLA battled back to tie the game at 14, but the Lancers retook the lead at 16-14. Sun broke the final tie of the game, at 22-22, and helped CBU tie the match at one.
The Lancers continued to improve their hitting percentage in game three ripping a .441 clip (18-3-34). Tiedjop led the way in the third game with eight kills. CBU trailed 3-1, but battled back to take a 4-3 lead. After the Bruins regained the lead at 6-5, the Lancers went on a 6-1 run and never looked back. CBU outscored UCLA 19-11 down the stretch to take game three.
The Bruins answered back in game four to tie the game at 2-2 hitting .419 (14-1-31). UCLA never trailed in game four and carried that momentum into game five as it escaped an upset from California Baptist.
“To be a good team you have to be consistent,” said McGuyre. “We're not as steady as I know we can be.”
The Lancers have to turn around, after falling to the Bruins, when they host Princeton, Thursday, at 7 p.m.
