California Baptist University
Vanguard University (Calif.)
SEEING PINK
10/7/2008 7:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
RIVERSIDE, Calif. ? Red may set something off in a bull, but it was pink that fired up No. 3 California Baptist Tuesday night in a 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-19, 27-25) win over No. 8 Vanguard.
It was Dig Pink Night for the Lancers (18-3, 7-2 GSAC) as California Baptist wore pink uniforms and fans also wore pink attire in the support for the war against breast cancer. What was built as a night of awareness quickly turned to a fight for power in the Golden State Athletic Conference as the match featured 28 ties and 12 lead changes.
CBU was led by its two big hitters in Noelle Dyk and Fei Shi who combined for 32 of the Lancers' 54 kills. Dyk had a match-high 17 kills while Shi had 15. Colleen Sweeney also notched double-figure kills with 10. Mical Bell dished out a career-high 38 assists and served up a pair of aces.
“Noelle has been clutch for us down the stretch and that is something I really admire about her,” said CBU head coach Ryan McGuyre. “I love her competitive desire and she was definitely our meanest girl in pink.”
The Lancers' defense also turned it up a notch recording a season-high 12.5 blocks. Bree Rauschenbach led the way with six blocks while Rene Simon and Jessica Kalama each posted five. Katrina Clark also recorded a match-high 24 digs.
“There was definitely some battling going on tonight,” said McGuyre. “Our blocking was definitely the key. We didn't do any of that last week at Point Loma. Both Bree and Rene are really quick. They are just really fast to the pins and that's what makes them great. I told them there was a challenge tonight. Our middles needed to out play theirs. We had that edge tonight.”
CBU struggled in the first two sets hitting just .167 and .148, but held the Lions to .033 and .111 clips in those sets. The Lancers let loose in the final two sets hitting .333 and .343.
The Lancers opened the match with a 3-1 lead, but the Lions used a 5-0 run to take a 6-3 lead. CBU took the lead back at 10-9 on a Vanguard error and broke the set open later with a 4-0 run to take a 17-12 lead. The Lions cut it to 22-20 late in the set, but a kill by Shi and a pair of errors by Vanguard gave the Lancers the set.
Vanguard answered in the second set to tie the match at 1-1. Tied at 18, the Lions used a 3-0 run and held off CBU, who closed it to 24-23, in the final points.
After the Lancers broke a 6-6 tie with a 5-0 run that included a pair of kills from Rauschenbach, CBU didn't let Vanguard see the light of day in the third set. The Lancers led by as much as nine on two occasions before the Lions closed it to 22-18, but thanks to three kills from Dyk, the Lancers moved to a 2-1 match lead.
California Baptist had match-point at 24-21 in the fourth set, but a kill from Vanguard's Kelsey Wirt and two Lancer errors tied the set at 24. Jamie Heenan completed the 4-0 run by the Lions with a kill and gave set-point over to Vanguard at 25-24. The Lancers answered with a kill by Simon to tie it at 25 and then used a Vanguard error to set up match-point again at 26-25. Kari Oliver delivered with her only ace of the night to seal the match for CBU.
California Baptist will hit the road as it travels to Biola, Saturday, and The Master's, Tuesday, before returning home to face No. 1 Fresno Pacific, Oct. 18.
