QUICK STUDIES

Wednesday, December 1

Sioux City, IA

11:00 AM

California Baptist University

Lindenwood

12/1/2010 10:31:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

SIOUX CITY, Iowa --- California Baptist University realized something on Wednesday.

It's a lot easier to beat a team in three sets than it is in five.

Just a day after giving up a 2-0 lead and finding themselves in a five-set dogfight for their opening game win at the NAIA National Tournament, the Lancers made sure to take care of business early against Lindenwood, defeating the Lions in three quick sets (25-13, 25-20, 25-15).

“This was a good team win,” said Head Coach Ryan McGuyre. “We played like CBU. It was a smooth, simple, well executed match today. The girls were dialed in tactically.”

The Lancers hit above .300 on the attack (.333), recorded 40 total digs and served up five aces.

“It's still all about defense for us,” said McGuyre. “Our blockers did a great job taking away what we needed them to and the diggers did a great job filling in the gaps behind them. Our serving was key today, as well.”

Though it wasn't close, the third set really told the story for CBU. A day earlier the Lancers had won the first two sets in somewhat comfortable fasion and then came out flat in the third and lost all the momentum.

CBU showed it had learned its lesson and jumped on top 12-3, taking away any hope of a comeback the Lions might have. Lindenwood was never able to make a run at the Lancers in that final set, getting swept in a little over an hour.

The Lions mounted their best challenge in the second set jumping out to a 4-1 lead. The Lancers however used a five-point run to quickly take the lead. CBU got kills from three different players and two Lion errors during the run.

CBU would pull away and go up 20-13 in the second set, but Lindenwood put together a four-point run of their own to close the margin. A kill from Bree Rauschenbach ended the run and CBU would have no trouble putting away the game from there. Ingrid Carmona recorded two of the final three points for the Lancers and Jelena Dragovic ended the set with an emphatic ace.

Carmona led the Lancers with 17 kills, hitting a blistering .394 in the match. Nevena Dragovic recorded 33 saves on the day and Katie Lockard led CBU with 12 digs. Rauschenbach and Jelena Dragovic each had two aces in the match.

Lindenwood had no players record double-digit kill totals and hit just .065 for the match. The Lions had 22 attacking errors, while the Lancers had just 10.

The win runs the Lancers overall record to 31-5 and the team is now 2-0 at the national tournament. Lindenwood falls to 34-14 and are now 0-2 at the tournament.
CBU closes out play Thursday at 1:15 p.m. (PST) against GSAC rival Biola. Both teams enter the match at 2-0 thus far in national tournament play. Both teams are guaranteed a spot in bracket play, but will be playing for the higher seed.

“We definitely know what we are getting in Biola,” said McGuyre. “It is going to come down to which ever team executes their game plan better. We just have to stay focused and bring this same level of play.”

The Lancers and Eagles split their two meetings this season, with Biola striking first and handing CBU its first loss of the year. The Lancers would get payback, defeating the Eagles 3-1 at home later in the year.