California Baptist University
4-1
Western Washington
4-2
Upset Sweep
9/12/2014 5:02:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – When the newest edition of the NCAA Division II top-25 polls came out Monday, it showed California Baptist University would be the underdog Thursday night against Western Washington, the ninth-ranked team in the division.
It looked the exact opposite, though, as the Lancers opened their home season and their first match of the GNAC-PacWest Crossover in impressive and dominant fashion by sweeping the Vikings, 25-11, 28-26, 25-16, in front of an exuberant crowd gathered in the Van Dyne Gym.
"I think the most special thing is being at home for the first time and being in front of the Crazies and our crowd," head coach Branden Higa said of the top-10 upset. "The crowd is just unbelievably good; we have the best fans in volleyball – period."
CBU improves to 4-1 and has won three-straight matches, while Western Washington is dealt its first loss at 4-1, as well.
Despite the GNAC winning three of the five Crossover matches at CBU Thursday, the PacWest pulled out two upsets with unranked APU also sweeping No. 13 Central Washington. Alaska-Anchorage defeated the Cougars in the first match of the day, while Northwest Nazarene defeated Point Loma in four sets.
"We didn't talk about the rankings at all," Higa said. "We know we've got to play well and it's really good to see the hard work pay off. The girls went harder than they have this season in practice, so it's great to see them validated. They know if they put in that effort, they'll have a shot against the best teams in the nation."
Offensively, the trio of outside hitters Michelle Waber and Lauren Hackett and newly minted middle blocker Jenna Perry proved just too much for the Vikings' defense to overcome. Waber finished with a double-double after putting up a match-high 13 kills and 11 digs, but Perry was 10-of-15 on her attacks for a .600 kill percentage.
"I just practiced at middle about two days ago and it was a lot of fun tonight," Perry said. "It was a lot more natural than I thought it would be, it came back to me really fast."
Perry, a sophomore, approached Higa earlier in the week and told him she wanted to contribute to the team however she can, even if it meant moving to the middle after starting at opposite hitter for the Lancers last season.
"Jenna Perry went nuts in that first set and really established that as a presence, so we could go to our pins," Higa said. "Michelle Waber was great, too, she just managed every tough swing and killed all the balls she was supposed to."
Hackett, the reigning PacWest Freshman of the Week, had eight powerful kills. Setter Jordyn Siko finished with 34 assists, while Becky Moodie led the match in digs with 18 for the Lancers.
CBU set the tone quickly, as a 7-0 run gave it a commanding 17-8 lead in the first set. Perry had three kills in that spurt, finishing with six in the opener. WWU stopped the spree with a kill from Jennica McPherson but Perry took back control with a kill and Hackett followed with one of her own. Waber scored two of the Lancers' last three points in the first set with kills.
It took longer for CBU to close out a tightly contested second set, evidence by 12 ties in the game. Hackett gave CBU its first set point, 24-23, with a kill, but Rachel Roeder tied things back up for the Vikings 24-24. Consecutive Roeder kills gave Western Washington set point, 26-25, but three unforced Vikings' errors closed things out in the Lancers' favor, 28-26.
"Coach told us [Western Washington] is super scrappy and we had to be scrappy back and outwork them," Perry said. "I think we did that tonight."
A 9-3 run put the Lancers on the track to a sweep in set three, as it gave them a 19-11 advantage in front of their home fans. Lauren Marr (six kills) led the attack with three kills during that span. WWU went on a 3-0 run of its own before kills from Jessica Harris and Waber put CBU back in charge.
Three of CBU's final four points came on kills, with Waber and Marr pushing their team's lead up to 24-16 before Kristin McCord sealed the victory with a kill.
CBU continues its Crossover play against Alaska-Anchorage, which is receiving votes in the polls, Friday at 3:45 p.m. The Lancers close out the tournament against No. 13-ranked Central Washington (12 p.m.) and Northwest Nazarene (7:30 p.m.), which is also receiving votes, Saturday.
"We'll get rest, recover and solider on," Higa said. "Every match is a new match, we'll enjoy tonight but what matters is our next match against Alaska-Anchorage at this point."
