California Baptist University
University of Hawaii at Hilo
DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK
10/2/2011 5:35:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
RIVERSIDE, Calif. --- Saturday night, California Baptist University finally found something it had been missing for the past two weeks; a late comeback.
Just a night after falling to the Hawaii-Hilo in three sets, the Lancers pulled out a five-set thriller (25-21, 21-25, 22-25, 25-20, 15-6) to end a three-match losing streak.
"This was one we definitely needed," said Head Coach Ryan McGuyre. "We still aren't playing the most consistent volleyball, but the girls showed some great resiliency coming back tonight. We saw flashes of Lancer volleyball from the girls, now we just need to play that way all the time."
After seeing UHH take a 2-1 advantage, the Lancers finally breathed some life into the gym in the fourth set and got a win they desperately needed.
CBU trailed early, but pulled ahead after four errors from the Vulcans. The Lancers would push their advantage with a five-point run, going up 18-12.
UHH came back and pulled within two late on a CBU attacking error. Andrea Csaszi snuck a kill past the Vulcan block, though, and then combined with Bree Rauschenbach on a block which brought the home crowd to its feet and put CBU up 23-19. After a Vulcan kill, Rauschenbach smashed a ball right down the center of the court and combined on another block, this time with Jessica Kalama, to grab the match-evening win.
With a raucous crowd and a pumped up bench, CBU went into the fifth with all the momentum.
The Lancers jumped ahead 2-0, but UHH quickly evened the score. The two teams continued to play even until mid-way through the deciding game.
With the score knotted at 6-6, Csaszi found another timely kill, glancing a ball off the side of the Vulcan block.
From there it was the Jelena Dragovic show. The 6-3 Middle blocker combined with Kalama to stuff UHH's Melissa Chavez and followed that by ripping two straight kills to give the Lancers a 10-6 lead. CBU would carry the comfortable advantage to the win, getting another kill and blocking assist from Dragovic down the stretch.
"Our middles, especially Jelena, were very effective for us tonight," said McGuyre. "We got a big response from Jelena both blocking and hitting. Our blocking tonight was great and that isn't something have had for the past few matches."
The Lancers hit .233 in the fourth game and then a scorching .391 in the final game. The Lancers also posted a season-high 17.5 blocks, 7.5 of which came in the final two sets.
UHH hit negative in the fourth and fifth sets and posted a .066 attack percentage for the match.
Dragovic's .462 hitting percentage on 14 kills led all players with more than two attempts. Ingrid Carmona posted a team-high 17 kills and Rauschenbach notched 10. Taking over mid-way through the third set, Taylor Parker posted 31 assists. Csaszi led all players with 20 digs.
Dragovic also had nine total blocks and Rauschenbach had eight. Rauschenbach moves into second on CBU's all-time blocks list with 404.
Hillary Hurley totaled 28 kills on 83 attempts for the Vulcans.
With Saturday's match scheduled as non-conference, CBU moves to 8-6 on the season. The Vulcans fall to 11-3. Up next for the Lancers is a pair of home matches against PacWest power BYU-Hawaii, Tuesday and Wednesday.
"Even with our ups and downs we still have a chance to win the conference," said McGuyre. "Our next two matches will be key for that, though. If we can find a way to win those it helps us greatly."
