California Baptist University
USC
Battle To The Finish
2/27/2014 4:57:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
RIVERSIDE, Calif. --- California Baptist University has had to face some of the nation's best on a consistent basis, and Wednesday night was no different. The Lancers held their own against No. 7-ranked USC, but couldn't fend off the Trojans, dropping three-straight sets (25-22, 25-21, 25-22).
The Lancers drop to 3-11 overall, 2-10 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, while the Trojans improve to 10-5 on the season, 9-5 in conference with the result.
Johannes Brink had a team-high 10 kills with Kristopher Johnson coming up right behind him with eight. Brink, Amir Lugo-Rodriguez and Johnson each registered four block assists on the night to help the Lancers out-block USC 10-8.
In the first set, CBU held a .421 attack clip, committing just three errors on 19 total attempts. USC jumped out to a 12-7 lead, but Jackson Burge laid down a kill and Lugo-Rodriguez followed with back-to-back aces to put pressure on the visiting team.
The Trojans built back their lead at 17-11, but CBU battled back to come within two at 23-21 as points became more and more important. USC reached set point first at 24-21, but Johnson kept his team alive briefly with a kill from the middle. The Trojans ended the set 25-21 in the next point before the Lancers could grab any momentum.
CBU opened the second set with the first two points and built up a 16-10 margin over the Trojans before USC called a timeout to regroup. The timeout worked in its favor as the visiting team scored seven-straight points to take over the lead at 17-16.
Despite their efforts, the Lancers couldn't hold off the Trojans' attack and surrendered the second frame, 25-21.
Desperate for a set win to keep the game alive, the Lancers put up another battle in the third, forcing the score to be evened 15 times, with the lead changing five times.
Once again, the Lancers scored the first point, but USC was right there to match them. Neither squad could get out in front by more than two points until the very end when the Trojans pulled ahead for the three-point victory at 25-22. Even at 22-22, CBU conceded costly mistakes to hand over the lead for the last time and drop the final set for the match defeat.
CBU is back at it in Van Dyne Gym tomorrow night as it faces yet another ranked team in No. 4 Pepperdine at 7 p.m.
