California Baptist University
Cal State East Bay
CBU Welcomes Newcomers In Opener
9/6/2014 4:25:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
HAYWARD, Calif. – For the first time, California Baptist University got to show off its highly-touted recruiting class for the 2014 season Friday at the Route 92 Showdown.
The Lancers showed plenty of fight at tournament-host Cal State East Bay, knocking off the Pioneers in a thrilling five-game season opener (19-25, 25-17, 25-18, 18-25, 20-18) before falling to Humboldt State in four games (25-18, 25-23, 26-28, 25-18).
CBU heads into the second day of the tournament with a 1-1 record, while the Jacks sit at 2-0 after defeating the PacWest's Academy of Art earlier Friday. Cal State East Bay sat at 1-1 with one more match to play with the Urban Knights later Friday.
A talented group of newcomers made their CBU debut Friday, as well. Freshman Lauren Hackett had 18 kills in each match for a team-high 36 on the day. Senior transfer Michelle Waber also had 33 kills overall, 20 in the first and 13 in the second match, at outside hitter. Junior libero transfer Becky Moodie had a team-high 42 digs on the day, 25 in the first match and 17 in the finale.
Transfer setter Jordan Carter and Jordyn Siko split time Friday, with Carter playing most of the first match and compiling 50 assists, nine digs and three aces in her match. Siko got tabbed for most of the second match and had 41 assists against the Jacks.
It was against the Pioneers that the Lancers showed its resiliency. CBU had to rally back early as it controlled the second game after dropping the opener on the heels of a 6-1 run. A 4-0 run – fueled by a Carter ace and kills from Jessica Harris and Hackett – gave the Lancers a 12-8 lead.
McCord, Waber and Hackett combined for three-straight kills to push the advantage to 20-13 and another 3-0 CBU run powered by a pair of kills from Hackett and another Carter ace gave the Lancers game point. Hackett closed it out with another kill.
CBU kept the runs coming in the third game. A 5-0 spurt gave the visitors a 15-10 edge and a 4-0 stretch put the Lancers up comfortably, 22-17. A 3-0 run on a kill from Waber and straight Pioneer attacking errors ended the game.
Things shifted when the Pioneers appeared to take over momentum for good, rallying from an 11-4 deficit to take the fourth game 25-18 and then seizing an 8-3 lead in the fifth.
Six costly errors from Cal State East Bay, a pair of kills from Hackett and kills from Lauren Marr and Waber led to a tie at 13-13. Both sides traded blows, with five more ties in the game – the final at 18 all.
After the Pioneers knotted the score at 18, Carter dumped the ball to give CBU its fifth match point of the game. Then a CSUEB attacking error sealed the game, 20-18, and the Lancer win.
Returners Tori Hinderaker and Kristin McCord played a big part in the Lancers' defense against the Pioneers, with 16 digs apiece, while McCord added eight big kills at outside hitter.
CBU showed no quit in its finale with HSU. After falling behind early in both the first and second games, the Lancers were down 20-16 in the third and fought back but was still down three, 23-20, late.
A Waber kill and consecutive Jacks errors evened the score at 23, but HSU quickly grabbed game and match point, 24-23, on a kill from Nicole Bewley. Waber tied things back up with a kill but faced match point again, 25-24, and looked to have been swept when the Jacks appeared to get the clinching kill, which cued the post-game music.
The officials halted the early ending, though, as Humboldt State was called for a rotation error, tying things back up at 26. Consecutive aces from McCord kept the Lancers alive for another game, but the Jacks put together too many runs to claim the victory, dropping the match 3-1.
CBU will look to sweep its two remaining matches in the Route 92 Showdown at Cal State East Bay Saturday. It opens against San Francisco State at 2 p.m. before turning right back around to face PacWest opponent Holy Names at 4:30 p.m.
