Dixie State Dodges Lancers

Wednesday, November 4

St. George, Utah

5 PM

California Baptist University

10-517-6/ PACWEST

Dixie State

12-315-8/ PACWEST

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
California Baptist	15	25	22	23	1
Dixie State	25	14	25	25	3

MATCH NOTES

Photo by: Andrew Shortall

Dixie State Dodges Lancers

11/4/2015 7:13:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

ST. GEORGE, Utah – At the end of a long road trip, California Baptist University came close to forcing a fifth set with the No. 1 team in the PacWest and putting itself back in the driver's seat at Dixie State Wednesday night.

Unfortunately for the Lancers, their comeback bid for a fifth and final set was just thwarted in a 25-15, 14-24, 25-22, 25-23 loss at the Red Storm's Student Activities Center. It increases Dixie State's lead for the PacWest championship to two matches, with it holding a 15-8, 12-3 in conference record.

By the same token, it muddies CBU's playoff picture the day the first NCAA Division II Regional polls came out and revealed it was ranked No. 7 in the West. The Lancers (17-6, 10-5) fall to third place in the conference behind BYU-Hawaii (11-10, 9-4). CBU returns home for the first time in five matches to host Concordia Saturday at 1 p.m.

After coming up just short in the swing set and falling into a 13-10 hole in set four, the Lancers climbed back in contention. They grabbed one of their first leads in the set with a 5-1 sprint. Two Hackett kills and one each from Lauren Marr (eight kills) and Perry made up the run.

Dixie State was desperate to avoid a fifth and took a 20-18 lead, then building it up to 23-20. Hackett notched three-straight points for CBU on kills and another from Perry forced a tie at 23 all. The Red Storm just dodged extra points and a set with a kill and ace ending the night.

Despite the loss, the Lancers outhit the Red Storm .209 to .189 and posted a 9-4 advantage in blocks. Tori Ortman had a great night at libero for CBU, coming close to her career-high for digs in a match with 23. Jordyn Siko picked up another double-double with 40 assists, 16 digs, three service aces and two blocks.

Hackett and Perry provided the majority of the offense, with 20 and 14 kills, respectively. Hackett did so with an efficient .333 hitting percentage (20-6-42). Jessica Harris played big at the net with five blocks on the night. Perry stuffed three shots at the net, as well.

After dropping the first set 25-15, CBU did Dixie State one better by winning the second 25-14. The Lancers opened it up on an 8-2 run on four Hackett kills and another from Perry. Out of a timeout, the Red Storm rallied to within three, 11-8.

CBU responded by scoring six of the next nine points to force DSU to use its final timeout, down 17-11. Hackett had two kills in that run, while Marr, Abbie Gortsema and Perry had one each, as well.

The Red Storm came out of the break refreshed and pulled back within four, 18-14, before the Lancers closed it out with a 7-0 run. Marr fueled the charge with two kills and a block.

In a crucial third set, CBU came out even stronger than before and grabbed a 7-1 lead on two Hackett kills and two Siko aces. Dixie State began to slowly chip away and eventually took its first lead at 20-19. A Lancer timeout led to CBU taking back the lead, 21-20, on a service error and solo block from Harris.

DSU bounced back and claimed the set, 25-22, and a 2-1 lead in the match, with a Harris kill breaking up the run.