Showing No Fear

Wednesday, January 14

Riverside

7:00 PM

California Baptist University

Pepperdine

California Baptist

Photo by: Lauren Garcia

1/14/2015 9:17:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – California Baptist University showed no fear when Pepperdine, the second-ranked team in the nation, came to the Van Dyne Gym for both teams' Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opener Wednesday night.

The Lancers showed they could hang with the Waves, fighting hard in each set. In the end, Pepperdine came out with all three set victories, 25-19, 25-21, 25-23, to improve to 5-0, 1-0 in conference. After two-straight wins, CBU falls to 2-2, 0-1 but can be proud of its performance against the preseason favorite to win it all in 2015.

Down 19-10 in the first set, the Lancers were given little hope early on. So instead, they created their own – forcing a Pepperdine timeout with a 3-0 run sparked by a Jonathan Tuttle kill. After the 90-second break, Tuttle came right back with a kill and CBU extended its run to 6-1 to pull within 20-16.

A kill each from Rocky DeLyon and Enrique de Diego Garcia brought the Lancers within three at 21-18 and 22-19, respectively, but the Waves clinched the set with a 3-0 run.

In the next frame, CBU found itself down 15-11 before it began to make its move. Rohit Paul started the run with consecutive points on a kill and service ace. Parker Kalmbach went sideout for Pepperdine with a kill, but Tuttle answered back with consecutive kills for CBU to bring the score to 17-15.

A Pepperdine service error and Paul kill brought the Lancers all the way within one, 18-17, but the Waves used a 4-0 run to give itself a 22-17 cushion that proved enough to secure the 25-21 victory.

CBU saved its best for last and took a 10-9 lead in the third set after two kills from Tuttle and Giovanni Llinas Rosa in the early going. Pepperdine took back a two-point lead, but a Garcia kill and a pair of Pepperdine errors forced ties at 17-17 and 18-18 before the Waves extended themselves to another two-point edge, 20-18. Garcia halted the visitor's run with a kill and then an error tied things again at 20-20.

The Waves called timeout and built a 23-20 cushion after the break and took match point at 24-21. The Lancers showed no quit and used kills from DeLyon and Tuttle to pull within 24-23, but Matt Tarantino kept the set from going overtime with a kill for Pepperdine.

On the night, Tuttle finished with nine kills on 19 attempts to end up with a .368 hitting percentage. Paul finished with six kills, while DeLyon and Garcia chipped in five each for the Lancers. Garcia proved efficient yet again, with his kills coming on just eight attempts for a .625 attack percentage. Overall, he is hitting at a .676 (24-1-34) clip so far this year.

Zachary Melcher continued to make the offense jump for CBU, with 25 assists and a block on the night. Caleb Miller continued to be a force at the net this season for the Lancers, with a team-high three blocks on the night. Garcia and Tuttle each had a pair of blocks of their own. Kevin Kustura led the Lancers' defense with eight digs on the night, while also contributing two kills, as two of his digs sailed over the net and landed for kills in a match that produced some whacky plays and impressive rallies.

CBU will need to keep up that tenacity, as it will face another top-15 test when 12^th-ranked Stanford visits Friday at 7 p.m., another conference matchup.