California Baptist University
Grand Canyon
Fitzpatrck's Day
1/21/2012 5:20:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
By Daniel Cross Sports Information Graduate Intern
RIVERSIDE, Calif. --- Friday night was a special night in the Van Dyne Gym as California Baptist University beat the 'Lopes of Grand Canyon in a four set match.
CBU won 25-21, 20-25, 28-26, 25-19, in an epic battle, which gave the Lancers their first win on the season.
"I think our guy's really responded well to a lot of the things Grand Canyon threw at us tonight," said Interim Head Coach Allan Vince. "We love to run the middle especially when we have the talent we have on this team. I thought we did a really good job at giving our middles a chance tonight to play and they performed the way we needed them to. I think Joe (Fitzpatrick) did an outstanding job tonight and he made some big plays at the right time."
The Lancers in the opening set hit .536, with 17 kills and two attacking errors. Five different Lancers hit over .300 and Kristopher Johnson led the way hitting .800 and tallying one block. On the other side, the 'Lopes hit .321 and had 14 kills with five attacking errors. The score was tied a total of 10 times throughout the game, but the lead only changed hands once, which was the first point of the set.
The second game was a different story for the Lancers, totaling a hitting percentage of -.038 and forcing 10 attacking errors. The Lancers were down by as much as six in the second set, but crawled back within two at 21-19 giving them their best chance at a victory. The 'Lopes would have none of it and would finish the game off with three-straight points for the win.
The Lancer's Aaron McCalmont and Johnson showed the only production on the offensive side, as they both hit over .500.
"After the second set we talked about some of the things we needed to work on," said Vince. "I think after we fine tuned our mistakes we started to click out there. I was excited to see our guys finally get into a rhythm and play as the team I know they can be."
The battle continued on in the third, as the score was tied a total of 11 times throughout the set. The Lancers would not give up even though they dropped the first three points of the game. McCalmont hit .391 and Johnson hit. 526. Joseph Fitzpatrick entered the picture hitting .444. Fitzpatrick came into the game with the Lancers down 8-4, but he would rally off three points out of the four CBU needed to tie the match up at 8-8. Fitzpatrick would later on rocket a huge kill that gave the Lancers a lead at 27-26 and eventually gave them the win.
"Our team had a week to really work on stuff and figure most of our errors out," said Fitzpatrick. " I can't hit anything unless I have a good passer and server and our team did a great job of that tonight. I really wanted to work on playing for the team and focusing on the team aspect, and I was really happy with the performance we had tonight."
The Lancers recorded 33 digs and 42 assists to the Lopes' 24 digs and 34 assists.
The fourth set went the Lancers way as they led by as much as seven; finishing the match hitting .355 and holding the Lopes' to .100. The two middles for the Lancers, Johnson and Fitzpatrick were the game changers, as they both finished hitting .519 and .538. McCalmont was consistent as usual finishing at .303.
Even though the 'Lopes out blocked the Lancers 10 to 5, the Lancers continued to have more assists and digs than the 'Lopes.
The Lancers will go on the road and face NCAA Division I teams Long Beach State and Cal State Northridge on Jan. 25 and Jan. 27.
