California Baptist University
BYU
EIGHT IS ENOUGH
1/15/2009 8:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
PROVO, Utah ? For second time in three years California Baptist pulled of the unthinkable with a come-from-behind 3-2 (25-30, 27-30, 30-26, 30-26, 15-10) win over No. 10 BYU.
It was also the first time the Lancers (2-2) knocked off the Cougars in Provo since the 2005 season.
The match went as expected for the first two sets, but no one expected the second-ranked Lancers to come back from being down 2-0.
After going to the hot hand in Levi Cabral in the past two matches, CBU went back to its consistent work horse in Adiel Tiedjop who led the way with a match-high 32 kills. The junior ripped a .351 hitting percentage and added six digs and a trio of blocks to his night.
Mike MacNeill kept CBU rolling with his career-high eight aces; just one back from tying the school record. The sophomore also picked up his first double-double of his career with 10 kills and a career-high 14 digs.
“Mike's serving was the story of the night,” said CBU head coach Ryan McGuyre. “Levi was a little dead and was that great team player tonight, but Mike and Whilly (Tiedjop) just took over. Mike started building momentum on his serve late and we set the right guys at the right time.”
Blair Penner dished out a match-high 70 assists, marking his second match this year with at least 70 assists. Levi Cabral still hit in double figures despite an off night with 17 kills. Micah Tokuda posted 10 digs while Garet Kreutziger recorded a career-high five blocks. Adam Church also had nine kills.
“Blair ran the show and did a great job at it,” said McGuyre. “He put sets right where they needed to be and ran the floor like he should.”
The Lancers were out hit (.266-.262) and out blocked (17.5-10), but it was the service game that made the difference for CBU. California Baptist served 11 aces and out dug the Cougars (46-44).
CBU never led and only tied BYU three times in the first two sets and trailed 4-0 in the third before someone flipped the switch. The Lancers got the train rolling with a pair of 6-1 runs with the last one giving CBU a 22-18 lead. The Lancers didn't lead by more than four in the set and led 28-26 before consecutive errors from the Cougars finally gave CBU a set.
In the fourth, CBU trailed again 8-6, but used an 8-1 run that was capped by a Tiedjop kill to take a 14-9 lead. BYU cut it to 23-22 late, but a 6-2 run gave set-point to the Lancers. The Cougars tried to answer, but could only come up with two points before a service error gave the set to CBU and tied the match at 2-2.
In the final set, CBU used a 5-1 run, that included a pair of aces from MacNeill, to take an 8-5 lead. Cabral then ripped a kill before Tiedjop notched consecutive kills to take the biggest lead of the set at 12-6. It was no denying CBU from that point on.
“I really thought game three was the key,” said McGuyre. “We sustained our energy after going down 2-0. I loved the resiliency of this team. We just kept working and we never quit. We still are not hitting on all cylinders, but we have pulled ourselves out the last two matches. We finished well tonight. We got up against Pepperdine and didn't close it out, but we weren't going to let that happen again tonight.”
The last two times CBU upset BYU, the Lancers went on to win the NAIA National Invitational in 2005 and 2007.
