California Baptist University
Hawaii Pacific
ACE OF CLUTCH
10/21/2011 5:36:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
CBU knocked off the PacWest's second place team, Hawaii Pacific, 3-1 (25-21, 25-21, 16-25, 25-19), extending its season-long win streak to six matches.
"I loved Bree's composure tonight," said Head Coach Ryan McGuyre. "She was only hitting around three percent going into the last game and then ripped seven kills on 13 attempts. Her aces were huge as well because they really gave her some confidence back and came at crucial moments for us."
With seemingly no points coming easy on the night, the Lancers clawed their way to a 2-0 lead in the match before HPU found some life and won the third game in convincing fashion.
CBU seemed on the verge of a disastrous collapse leading into the fourth, as the Sea Warriors held all the momentum. That's when Rauschenbach struck.
The senior ripped the Lancers' first kill of the set and then followed that up with three-straight aces, helping to lead CBU to a 5-1 early advantage.
HPU pulled within one midway through the set, but after a service error Rauschenbach was again up to serve and fired in two more aces, giving her five in the set.
She would score four of CBU's last five points in the set, including back-to-back kills that ended the Sea Warriors last charge.
"We got Bree back into her natural position at middle late in the game and she was able to bring us home with those kills," said McGuyre. "I think HPU just wasn't ready for it and she was on a roll."
Both Rauschenbach and Ingrid Carmona posted 15 kills in the match and Jessica Kalama had 12 to go along with her team-high 20 digs. Jelena Dragovic once again led the Lancers in hitting, with a .389 attack percentage on her nine kills. Taylor Parker tallied a season-high 49 assists. Rauschenbach's seven aces were a career-high.
Sanoe Recca led the way for the Sea Warriors with 16 kills and Kyra Pelayo led all players with 22 digs.
CBU out-hit the Sea Warriors .215-.204 and out-blocked them 11-6. Five of the Lancers' blocks came in the second game.
"Other than BYU-Hawaii and Grand Canyon, we've beat everyone in the top half of the conference standings once and we still have one more shot against Grand Canyon," said McGuyre. "This is a good conference win and just goes to further show we can play with anyone."
CBU moves to 14-8 overall, 6-4 PacWest, and HPU falls to 11-7, 6-3.
The Lancers have two more matches left on their current home stand, facing Dixie State next week Friday and Grand Canyon the following Saturday. The Lancers then travel north to the Bay Area for their final four conference matches.
