California Baptist University
Fresno Pacific
No Place Like Home
9/26/2013 4:29:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
RIVERSIDE --- In front of a packed home crowd, California Baptist University sent No. 15 Fresno Pacific packing in straight sets in the team's home opener Wednesday night.
CBU controlled each game, riding the home crowd of over 900's energy to the 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-19) win.
“This is why you love playing at CBU,” said head coach Branden Higa. “The fans and the students here love volleyball and they love showing up and supporting our program. That put us over the top tonight. Once we got ahead and got the momentum rolling, they just piled on. It was great to come home to this after being on the road for three weeks.”
The Lancers had commanding leads in each game, going up by as much as seven in the first, nine in the second and eight in the third on their way to the team's second straight set win of the year.
CBU held key advantages on the block and at the service line Wednesday night, out-blocking the Sunbirds 11-4 and serving 10 aces to just two for FPU.
“The other untold story on the stat sheet is just how good our passing was,” said Higa. “Our passing core was really on point. We were in good spots all night and a lot of that had to do with that part of our game.”
On the attack, CBU held a 34-27 kill advantage and held FPU to just a .009 hitting percentage. It was the lowest hitting percentage of the season for the Sunbirds who came into play attacking at a .207 clip.
Malika O'Brien led the charge for CBU, totaling 16.5 points on two solo blocks, seven block assists, six kills and five aces. Kim McCalmont picked up her 10th double-double of the season with 10 kills and 11 digs, and Jenna Perry notched seven kills and a .538 hitting percentage.
“We got great contributions across the board,” said Higa. “This is the best we've looked so far this season. We thought we could play this way when we put the team together, it's just taken some time to get here. Tonight everyone on the court brought the same focus and intensity we talk about in practice and that's what we need.”
The win keeps CBU's conference record unblemished, moving the Lancers to 4-0 in PacWest play and 7-5 overall. FPU drops to 6-4 overall, 1-2 PacWest.
The Lancers are back in action Friday night, taking on Holy Names at home.
