Comeback Artists

Saturday, October 3

Irvine, Calif.

6 PM

California Baptist University

11-2, 4-1PacWest

Concordia

6-9, 2-4PacWest

California Baptist

Concordia (CA)

Photo by: Andrew Shortall

10/3/2015 7:54:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

IRVINE, Calif. – If there is one thing the California Baptist University Lancers have shown this season, it's that they should never be counted out.

If there hasn't been enough evidence of that so far this season, CBU provided some more in a road sweep of Concordia University of Irivine Saturday night in the CU Arena, 27-25, 25-23, 25-16. The Lancers battled back from the Eagles holding set point in the opener, a 19-12 deficit in set two and a 5-1 hole in the finale to grab their third-straight win and seventh win of the year by sweep, as they improved to 11-2, 4-1 in the PacWest. Concordia falls to 6-9, 2-4.

No matter how big the deficit, there was never any panic from the Lancers. Even when things were at there worst in the second set, CBU setter Jordyn Siko never lost faith.

"I knew we could win," said Siko, whose team used a 13-4 run to win the second set. "Even though it was a pretty big gap, I knew we had the ability to refocus and chip away at it one point at a time. I knew we had that in us to come together, refocus, reset and push back."

CBU hit .250 in the match overall, with 43 kills and 20 errors on 92 attempts. Concordia hit .122 (30-19-90) against the Lancers defense that enjoyed a 37-27 edge in digs. Jenna Perry provided a match-high 13 kills on a .381 percentage for CBU, while Lauren Marr was close behind with 11.

"All our hitters have been doing really well executing plays and stepping up when we need them," Siko said. "As a setter, it's awesome to know you can go anywhere because you trust your players to put the ball away and put pressure on the other team. It's a load off my mind and makes it so less stressful because we trust each other so much to get the job done, and I think it shows on the floor with how we play."

Siko had an all-around match at setter for the Lancers, with 34 assists, six digs, four big kills and three blocks. Lauren Hackett, who had eight kills, was the only Lancer to finish with double-digit digs (11), but Tori Ortman and Nicci Hinderaker had eight and seven, respectively.

CBU opened the match on a 12-6 run to force a Concordia timeout in the first set, with Marr providing two kills and Hackett with a kill and ace in the early run. The Eagles would battle back, however, and tie things up at 21-21 and even take set point, 24-23.

Abbie Gortsema kept the Lancers alive with a kill and the visitors cashed in their second chance at set point when Siko provided the clincher with an early attack off a dig from Hinderaker.

CBU hit .320 in the first with 12 kills and four errors on 25 attempts. Marr finished with a set-high five kills on seven swings, while Perry had three big kills on five attempts.

Concordia appeared to be in control of the second set, with a 19-12 lead in the second set, but the Lancers forced an Eagles timeout when they pulled within four, 20-16, after an ace from Kristin McCord, kill from Hackett and two CUI errors.

Facing another big deficit, 22-16, the Lancers kept coming. Behind the service of Hackett, the Lancers scored eight-straight points, with three Perry kills, two aces and two kills from Marr, giving them set point 24-22. Concordia got a point on an attack error, but Perry smashed the clincher with a big kill.

When it came to mindset, CBU kept it simple during that big set-winning run.

"You don't have to be perfect on every play, you just have to keep the ball going," Siko said of the focus. "You don't have to kill this ball, you just have to challenge them and make them play with you. That's what we did and we ended up coming out on top because we just outplayed them."

In set three, CBU found itself in another hole, 5-1, but it was no big deal after the previous set. Two kills from Perry and one each from Hackett and Marr tied things at 5-5 and the Lancers forced a Concordia timeout when they took a 12-8 lead after consecutive kills from Hackett.

The Eagles would come within two, 16-14, before CBU began to pull away — up 22-16 — with a 6-1 run fueled on two kills from Siko, one from Perry and a combo block from Gortsema and Siko. The Lancers really came alive in the finale, hitting .303 (16-6-33) and holding the Eagles to a .094 mark (9-6-32).

It sets up a big start to a long week for CBU, as it hosts BYU-Hawaii Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Seasiders are one of two undefeated teams, along with Hawaii Pacific, remaining in PacWest play, which has the Lancers in third place. Hawaii Hilo and Chaminade will also visit Van Dyne on Thursday and Saturday, respectively for 7 p.m. matches.