California Baptist University
Concordia
REMOVING DOUBT
9/16/2008 7:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
RIVERSIDE, Calif. ? It's safe to say that many of the California Baptist faithful didn't know what to expect after losing the core of a championship program and seeing a brutal loss to No. 1 Fresno Pacific last Saturday.
Despite the uncertainty, not one person left Van Dyne Gym Tuesday night with a doubt that CBU is right where it belongs after the second-ranked Lancers (13-1, 2-1 GSAC) took down No. 3 Concordia (13-1, 2-1 GSAC) in convincing fashion winning 3-1 (25-11, 25-22, 20-25, 25-23).
“It was so fun tonight I almost want to cry; it was just so exciting,” said CBU head coach Ryan McGuyre. “I was so proud of how we played tonight after getting our butt's kicked Saturday. I wasn't sure how we were going to respond just because we are so young.”
Noelle Dyk continued to emerge for CBU as she ripped a season-high 17 kills at a .375 clip in leading CBU to the win. Fei Shi also put down 14 kills in the match. Krista Hasemeyer and Mical Bell combined for 46 assists with Hasemeyer dishing out a match-high 31.
While the offense was on for the Lancers, it was the defense that carried the load. Six different Lancers recorded a block and four notched double-figures in digs. Freshman Rene Simon recorded a season-high seven blocks while Dyk, Shi and Bree Rauschenbach each posted three. Shi led CBU in digs with 15. Katrina Clark added 12 digs while Dyk and Hasemeyer each had 10. It was a season-high for Hasemeyer who also recorded her first double-double of the year.
As a team CBU tied a season-high with 10 blocks and hit at a .321 clip.
“When you have as little of errors as we had tonight, it puts a lot of pressure on your opponent,” said McGuyre. “If we can play like we played in the opening set every night we will be one of the toughest teams to beat.”
It took just the opening points for the Lancers to come alive and run roughshod over the Eagles in the opening set. Tied at 4-4, CBU lit up the court with a 21-7 run that closed out the set.
Dyk and Shi combined for nine of CBU's 15 kills in the first set. Dyk, who had five kills, hit at a .625 clip. The Lancers hit .438 as a team and were 11-for-12 (91 percent) in side outs in the set.
In the second set, CUI cut it to one twice at 22-21 and 23-22, but a Dyk kill and an ace from Bell gave the Lancers the set and a 2-0 match lead.
Concordia stole a set back in the third after taking control midway through the set. Tied at 13, the Eagles scored three consecutive points to take a 16-13 lead. The Eagles controlled the set from there and never relinquished the lead.
The Lancers answered back in the fourth set when Colleen Sweeney came to life. Sweeney ripped a kill to break a 13-13 tie and then after a Dyk kill and an Eagle error, she assisted on a block that put Lancers up 17-14. The Lancers increased their lead to 22-17, but Concordia inched its way back to within one at 24-23 after facing triple match-point. With match point on the line and a tie staring the Lancers down, CBU turned to who it had all night in Dyk for the final kill.
The win marks the fifth straight over Concordia for CBU, and the fourth straight over an Eagle team that was ranked No. 3 in the NAIA.
The Lancers will have to carry their momentum into Saturday's contest with Hope International in Fullerton, Calif.
