California Baptist University
Holy Names
Joining the Pac
9/18/2014 9:45:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
California Baptist University opened PacWest play with another sweep of Holy Names (25-13, 25-13, 25-20) Thursday night in the Van Dyne Gym...
While the Lancers had swept the Hawks already once this season, CBU came out fired up in its conference opener, defeating Holy Names in straight sets again, 25-13, 25-13, 25-20. The Lancers improve to 5-4, 1-0 in the PacWest, while the Hawks drop to 0-7, 0-1.
"It feels good, we have been preparing for this PacWest season and this opener for a really long time," head coach Branden Higa said. "As a staff and as a program, we have been focused on this, basically since last season."
Jenna Perry and Michelle Waber led California Baptist University in kills with 14 and 13, respectively, while Lauren Marr added seven. Perry (.600) and Waber (.423) also hit at a very high percentage, leading to CBU's impressive .376 attacking percentage overall.
"I think we played really well, we came out fired up and just motivated coming off a couple of losses from last weekend," Waber said. "I think we're pretty solid, it helps we have a great group of girls that just care about each other. ... We all stick together."
Jordyn Siko (20 assists) and Jordan Carter (17 assists) split time at setter, while Becky Moodie and Kristin McCord led the Lancers in digs with 11 and eight, respectively.
CBU wasted no time Thursday and jumped out to a 9-3 lead in the first set. Jessica Harris (five kills) and Perry both had two kills in the opening run. The Lancers opened their lead to nine points, 18-9, to force the Hawks' second timeout of the set. CBU not only maintained its pace, but it pushed further before taking the first set 25-13.
It was an identical win for the Lancers in the second set, but their big run came later on this time. Holy Names held close early at 5-4 but began to fall behind after consecutive kills from Waber and Marr. CBU took a stranglehold on the set, 19-8, with a 7-1 run late punctuated by a pair of kills from Perry and a rare kill from Tori Hinderaker – her first of the year.
Kills from Perry and Kiera Brunson bookended another 3-0 CBU run, which pushed the home team's lead to 22-10 before taking the second set, 25-13.
Holy Names played CBU close, even leading in parts of the third set. Down 11-9, Waber sparked a 5-0 run while serving to push her team ahead 14-11. The Hawks battled back tie the set at 16 but Waber broke things up with a kill and a Holy Names attacking error gave CBU some momentum, with Perry, Harris and Waber building on it with a kill apiece to force set point. A kill from Melissa Munley kept HNU alive before Perry ended things with her 14th and final kill.
"We have been working a lot on playing together as a team and really being better throughout the transitions of the match," Higa said. "I thought they did take a step tonight to just play smarter, cleaner and be more prepared, that's a big key and that's what we wanted to get out of tonight."
CBU continues PacWest play Friday in the Van Dyne Gym against conference-rival Fresno Pacific at 7 p.m. The Lancers end their six-match homestand after that, heading on a Northern California swing to Notre Dame de Namur, Dominican and Academy of Art next Thursday, Friday and Saturday, respectively.
"We always battle with FPU, it's been a tradition that's gone back as long as this program has existed," Higa said. "We have a great rivalry with them, they always come and are fired up to play here and vice versa. Our crowd is always incredible, they show up in big numbers and always give us a boost in that Fresno match. It will be a great test early."
