Seniors Sent Off With a Sweep

Saturday, November 21

Riverside, Calif.

7 PM

California Baptist University

Azusa Pacific

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Azusa Pacific	21	21	21	0
California Baptist	25	25	25	3

Photo by: Jacob Gonzalez

Seniors Sent Off With a Sweep

11/21/2015 10:12:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – With bragging rights, Senior Night and playoff implications circling Saturday night's PacWest showdown between California Baptist University and Azusa Pacific; emotions were bound to lead the Lancers up or down in the Van Dyne Gym.

Thankfully for CBU, everything riding on Saturday elevated its game to a sweep of the Cougars, 25-21, 25-21, 25-21. It was a fine sendoff for two senior setters – two-year transfer Jordan Carter, who just so happened to be celebrating her birthday, and Jordyn Siko, who has been in the program since a freshman in 2011.

"This was emotional, all emotions -- excited and a little sad at the same time," said Siko, who finished with 29 assists, four digs, two blocks and two kills on her final home match. "The high emotions played to our advantage. We wanted to come out on top and really just end the season right, so that was really exciting for me to come out, have a good game and finish everything how we wanted to."

For Coach Branden Higa, Senior Night is always bittersweet.

"I hate Senior Night," he said. "We spend so much time with these people and our girls pour in so much of themselves. It's a little bit emotional for everyone, I think, including us coaches. Jordyn and Jordan were both captains for us this year, they both had some different roles on the team, but they both selflessly gave and I couldn't be happier they came to CBU and I had the opportunity to work with both of them."

A 13-5 advantage in blocks for the Lancers and subsequent .067 hitting percentage for APU proved the biggest difference in the match, as the Cougars were thwarted from sweeping a season series with the Lancers, which they have not accomplished since 2002.

"The rivalry plays a lot into it, they were our first conference loss [this season] and we were all pretty bitter about it," Siko said. "So when we came into tonight, it all still stung for us. Revenge did come into play, they have always been a rival and everyone knows that; they always give us a good game."

Playoff hopes are still alive with the Lancers' victory, as they end the regular season ranked ninth in the NCAA Division II West Region. Their record sits at 21-7, 14-6 in conference, as they tied for second in the PacWest with No. 6 Point Loma (20-9, 14-6) and just a match off champion and 10^th-ranked Dixie State (19-10, 15-5). Azusa Pacific ends the year 14-15, 10-10.

"It was an up-and-down week for us, knowing Senior Night was looming and that this had playoff implications, but I was proud of how our girls fought all week in practice," Higa said. "We were determined to win tonight, the emotions could have easily been distracting, but man, our team was together. They were tight tonight on the court and on the bench. It's always awesome when you have all players in 100 percent, especially at this point of the season."

Obviously, all three sets ended with identical scores and they all played in similar fashion, with APU pushing the Lancers toward the middle or latter half of the match before the home team came alive with a big run, closing the door.

"We just controlled our side and played the aggressor," explained Siko of the Lancers strong play late in sets. "Instead of making small shots and just keeping the ball in play, we decided to swing as hard as we can into seams and force them to make mistakes, which I think played to our advantage."

A 7-2 run in the opener gave APU an 18-16 lead. The Lancers used an 8-1 run -- fueled by three kills from Lauren Marr, one from Abbie Gortsema and an ace from Kristin McCord -- to take set point, 24-19. A service error sealed the CBU victory, 25-21.

In set two, the Lancers led 8-7 before the Cougars charged back with a 6-1 run. A service error gave CBU sideout and consecutive aces from Tori Ortman got the home team moving. An APU kill preceded seven-straight points for the Lancers on two kills from Jenna Perry and two blocks from Jessica Harris, one of which was assisted by Perry.

APU chipped its way back within two, 20-18, but two more Perry kills and one from Marr led to the Lancers grabbing a 23-18 cushion. A 3-0 Cougar run was stopped in its tracks by a combo block from Gortsema and Perry and another kill from Marr ended the second, 25-21 again.

The final set saw Azusa Pacific jump out to an 11-7 lead, but a 7-0 run made it 14-11 CBU. The charge was sparked by McCord's serving and finished by three-straight blocks from Gortsema, who also started it with a kill.

A tie at 14-14 was broken up by a 5-1 spurt from the Lancers, with three Harris blocks pushing it along.

"Something we struggled with last time [against APU] was blocking, we got tooled a lot," Siko said. "We really focused on their hitters, learning their tendencies, practicing and pressing over."

From there, both sides traded points, guiding CBU to match point, 24-20. Hackett ended the match with another 25-21 score when she ended a long rally with a roll shot across the court for a kill just in the Cougars' side of the net.

Perry finished with a match-high 13 kills for the Lancers, while Harris led the way with eight blocks and six digs. McCord (11) and Tori Ortman (10) each had double-digit digs and two aces. Hackett provided nine digs, seven kills and five blocks. Marr had eight kills on a .333 percentage and Gortsema added five blocks.

The NCAA Division II Postseason Selection Show airs Monday at 7:30 p.m., with the Lancers hoping to qualify for the first time in program history, so they don't have to say goodbye to their seniors just yet.