California Baptist University
USC
Not So Sweet Home
1/6/2012 4:56:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
By Daniel Cross Sports Information Graduate Intern
RIVERSIDE, Calif. --- Opening the season for its first regular season home game, California Baptist University fell to a very tough No. 5 USC squad in the Van Dyne Gym.
CBU lost 25-18, 25-16, 25-20, keeping it an entertaining match to watch even though the Lancers could not overcome the USC hitting percentage throughout the match.
"It is a difficult transition when competing against NCAA Division I teams on a regular basis," said Interim Head Coach Allan Vince. "We just need to be more aggressive when going after the ball and following our game plan. We have a young, but talented team here, who want to learn and get better. As long as we keep believing we're only going to get better."
In the opening set, the Lancers tied the match at 13-13, but it would be the Trojans who would go on to extend the lead to 17-13 and would not look back. The Lancers in the first set produced a .154 hitting percentage, to the Trojans .364. The lead changed six times and the score was tied 12 times, but the Trojans had 17 kills to the Lancers eight.
An early run in the second set by the Lancers at 7-5 looked promising, but the Trojans would go on to score seven straight points to maintain the lead and go on to win the second.
The Trojans hit .449 and had 12 kills while only committing two attacking errors. The Lancers hit .114 with only six kills and five attacking errors. Trojan Tony Ciarelli hit .667 in the first set increasing his hitting percentage to .727 in the second. Lancer Aaron McCalmont hit .222 in the first set and also increased his hitting percentage to .385 in the second. McCalmont seemed to be the only Lancer who had an answer for the Trojans as they out-hit and dug the Lancers.
In the final set the Lancers threw everything they had at the Trojans trying to keep it as close as they could, but could not overcome the attacking errors. Late in the match Lancer Daniel Quinn had a monster block that sparked the fans and players, but could not hold on as the Trojans held on to the lead.
The Lancers finished the match hitting .108 and forced 18 attacking errors with only 27 kills on the night. On the other side, the Trojans finished with a .359 hitting percentage and 41 kills. The Trojans out-dug the Lancers 27-18 and managed 10.5 total team blocks to the Lancers eight.
"There were times where I saw good things and bad," said Vince. "We can only get better and keep believing in each other, so we need to just move on and look forward to the next match."
The Lancers move to 0-2 on the season and will face their second Canadian team this week, Manitoba, in an exhibition match on Saturday at 3 pm.
The Trojans receive their first win and move to 1-0.
