California Baptist University
Fresno Pacific
WHOLEHEARTED SEMIFINAL
12/6/2008 8:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
SIOUX CITY, Iowa ? A few shrugs of the shoulders, several smiles, a few tears from a libero in pink and possibly the most heart on the court all year will be the lasting memories of a national tournament run for California Baptist.
The Lancers (28-9) seemingly left everything they brought with them to the frigid Midwest on court Saturday morning as No. 7 CBU fell 3-0 (25-18, 28-26, 25-23) to No. 1 Fresno Pacific in a semifinal match at the 2008 NAIA Volleyball National Tournament. The only team to make it to the semifinals in each of the past five years, California Baptist needed just a few breaks and it could have led 2-1 instead of falling 3-0.
“I love how we came out and competed today,” said CBU head coach Ryan McGuyre. “You need to have a little grit if you plan to win championships. You learn more when you lose so this is a great learning experience especially considering we lose just one person from this team. We are celebrating today not only for a good tournament run, but for a great season as well.”
CBU's nemesis, the top-ranked Sunbirds, was easily favored to win their second straight title, but it wasn't handed to them on a silver platter. Led by Noelle Dyk and Shi Fei, who accounted for 28 of the Lancers' 38 kills, CBU put tension on the FPU sideline for the first time this year.
After going down 1-0 in the match, CBU trailed 16-14 in the second set. Shi sparked an 8-2 run that gave the Lancers their largest lead of the set at 22-19. FPU scored consecutive points to get within one, but the Lancers answered and had set point at 24-22 on another Shi kill. The Sunbirds answered with back-to-back kills from Ke Ke Wang and Fabiana Leomil to tie it at 24. CBU went back to Shi again to score its second match point, but Leomil brought back control, and a 26-25 lead, to FPU with consecutive kills. A Colleen Sweeney kill tied it again at 26, but the Sunbirds closed it out with a pair of kills to take a 2-0 match lead.
CBU had an even more commanding lead in the final set at 15-9, but watched FPU inch its way back to a 21-all tie before a Leomil ace gave the Sunbirds the lead for good and a ticket to the national championship match.
Dyk had a match-high 17 kills and was followed closed by Shi who had 11. Shi was also just a dig short of her fifth double-double of the tournament and sixth straight. Krista Hasemeyer and Mical Bell combined for 33 assists with a team-high 20 from Hasemeyer. Dyk along with Sweeney and Rauschenbach all had a trio of blocks.
“We could have executed a little better,” said McGuyre. “When you have a chance to make a big play you need to step up and make that play. Noelle and Fei gave us the usual firepower, but we just needed that one other person to come up big for us in the match.”
And what about that libero in pink; Katrina Clark? The senior finished just 20 digs shy of tying the school's career record as she posted 20 digs on the night bringing her career total to 1,830 digs in her illustrious four years in Riverside. Clark was a part of a national title (2005) and a runner-up (2007) team and reached at least the semifinals in all four years. While numbers may stay in a record book, Clark's legacy won't just be one of statistical information.
“Kat understands her role as a libero better than anyone I know,” said McGuyre. “She knows it's more than just passing. The position is all about leadership and she carried that roll well. She will leave a servant-hearted legacy. She is assertive when she needs to be and she is always the loving person she needs to be. She is a very active captain who not only leads by example, but is vocal as well. She bought into our philosophy four years ago and understands what the bigger picture actually is.”
