California Baptist University
William Jessup University (Calif.)
SEASIDE SWEEP
8/29/2010 1:51:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
SAN DIEGO, Calif. --- It wasn't as dramatic as yesterday's 11-0 set-ending flurry, but California Baptist University used another big run, this time a 9-0 spurt late in the third set, to turn a one-point deficit into a healthy lead before finishing off Lindenwood 25-19, 25-21, 25-16 in the final match of the Point Loma Nazarene Seaside Invitational hosted by Point Loma Nazarene.
The win over the Lions put the finishing touches on a perfect four-match run through the Invitational. The third-ranked Lancers improve to 8-0 on the season.
The Lancers started the day with a 25-15, 25-15, 25-15 win over William Jessup, and that momentum carried right over into the Lindenwood match.
"I got what I wanted out of that last match," said CBU Head Coach Ryan McGuyre. "We were able to identify our strengths and weaknesses and shored up some things at certain positions. The resolve we showed all weekend was pretty good."
CBU got a shot in the arm when All-American Ingrid Carmona made her first appearance of the weekend against the Lions. She went on to put down a match-high 14 kills.
Jessica Kalama, who led the Lancers with 50 kills and 64 digs this weekend finished with nine kills and 14 digs. Jelena Dragovic had eight kills on 14 attempts without an error.
"(Jessica) Kalama was without a doubt our tournament MVP," said McGuyre. "I think she got a little tired from having to do so much offensively the first three matches, but she was all over the place defensively tonight. Ingrid picked her up though on the offensive end."
Lindenwood jumped out to an early 9-8 lead in the third game when Linjun Ji put down a kill, which started a string of nine straight CBU points. By the time the dust settled, the Lancers led 17-9 and then just cruised in for the sweep.
They weren't the sharpest in the opening set, hitting just .100 (12-8-40), but they limited the Lions to just six kills on 30 swings, which resulted in a .067 hitting percentage. That trend didn't wane as the Lions hit just .046 (24-19-108) for the match.
Bree Rauschenbach had four kills without an error, and she also served three more aces. She finished the weekend with 19 of the Lancers' 30 aces, and she also had 36 kills, 13 digs, six blocks and hit .446, committing just seven errors in 65 swings.
"Bree played like an All-American this entire weekend," said McGuyre.
In the opening match against William Jessup, the Lancers hit .368 (49-10-106) and had three players-Megan Glennie (.500), Kalama (.462) and Jessica Roberts (.438)-hit over .400. Kalama had a match-high 14 kills and 11 digs. Glennie and Roberts both finished with seven apiece. Glennie had five in the opening set.
"Megan gives us good firepower offensively," said McGuyre. "She's not the highest hitter, but when teams are reaching high like they have to for Jessica (Roberts), she can hit right by them, and she has the firepower to terminate. We have two outsides who hit differently, so teams have to change the way they defend against them."
The Lancers struggled early, but then got it going midway through the first set and never looked back. They led 18-14 in the opening set when Rauschenbach had consecutive kills and Glennie had consecutive kills to key a 5-0 Lancer spurt that gave them a 23-14 lead. Taylor Parker's solo block ended the set.
They trailed 2-0 out of the gate, but then reeled off three straight points and didn't trail again until the third set.
"We were a little too loose early, but we played through it, played together and got better," said McGuyre. Our chemistry is really good, and we are definitely playing with a oneness. Our parts are interchangeable, which allows to give different looks, yet we are still able to keep our rhythm."
Defensively, the Lancers held the Warriors to a .129 (26-14-93) hitting percentage, and they had 47 digs and five blocks. Katie Lockard chipped in with 10 digs, and Kari Oliver added 10. Parker finished with 40 assists.
Rauschenbach had five aces to go along with eight kills and three blocks.
