Thursday, March 26
Riverside
7:00 PM
California Baptist University
vs
UCLA
Photo by: Lauren Garcia
Home Stretch
3/26/2015 9:59:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- For the second time this season, CBU will face UCLA and UC Santa Barbara, with the Lancers playing host this time.
Both matches will start at 7 p.m., with the 12th-ranked Bruins visiting the Lancer in the Van Dyne Gym Thursday and the No. 7 Gauchos coming to town Saturday. CBU is nearing the end of its season, with just one more home match left on its schedule after this week.
Last week, the Lancers put up strong fights in losses to a pair of top-15 ranked teams, No. 9 Long Beach State and #15 Cal State Northridge, last week. UCLA is coming off a pair of losses, while UCSB will have played its third match in four days.
A number of notable marks have been set by CBU this season, and that trend continued on the road last week for the Lancers. Kevin Kustura set a personal career and team season-high record for digs in a match with 17 in just three sets at Long Beach State. It is the fourth-best standard in CBU single-match history and second in three-set affairs. The Lancers had 46 digs in the next match at Cal State Northridge, with Kustura (12), Rocky DeLyon (10) and Zachary Melcher (10) each logging double-digit digs. Melcher produced a double-double with 35 assists, as well.
SERIES NOTES (UCLA)
UCLA has won 10 of its 13 matches with CBU, but the Lancers remember their three-set victory over the Bruins in the Van Dyne Gym back in 2013. CBU also defeated UCLA in 2010, snapping a six-match winning streak in the series by the Bruins that dated back to when the series began in 1999. UCLA swept CBU at home back on Feb. 17th in three (25-20, 25-17, 25-19), with 16 team blocks. Trent Kersten led the way with nine blocks and nine kills for UCLA.
SERIES NOTES (UCSB)
The Gauchos take an 11-5 lead and four-match winning streak in their series with CBU coming into this week. The Lancers have won two of three match against UC Santa Barbara in the Van Dyne Gym. UCSB won both matches versus CBU last year, but the Lancers earned a split in 2013 with a three-set home win and five-set loss on the road. In the first match between the two teams this season in Santa Barbara, CBU was hampered by injuries and suffered a 25-11, 25-15, 25-13 loss.
UCLA AT A GLANCE
The Bruins are coming off two losses, moving to eighth place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and to a No. 12 ranking in the NCAA. The Bruins, however, continue to impress in the nationally statistics coming in sixth for aces per set (1.6) and seventh for blocks per set (2.7). Coach John Speraw, who also coaches the U.S. National team, will look to improve on UCLA's recent results. The team's biggest win of the season came when it upset cross-town rival USC in four sets (25-15, 25-23, 22-25, 25-22). The Trojans were ranked third at that point and have since slipped to No. 9. Jake Arnitz (144 kills), Christian Hessenauer (134 kills) and J.T. Hatch (138 kills, .285 percentage) make up a balanced offense as the Bruins top-three hitters.
UC SANTA BARBARA AT A GLANCE
The Gauchos have grabbed their top-seven ranking with a prolific and balanced offense. Coming into its Friday match with USC, UCSB was averaging 12.61 kills and 11.70 assists a set, along with 1.31 aces. Setter Jonah Seif plays big for UC Santa Barbara in a number of ways. He obviously leads the team in assists with 720 (10.43 a set), but also ranks first with a team-high 20 aces, checks in second with 126 digs (1.83 a set) and third in blocks (50, 0.72 a set). Benefitting most from Seif's passes are Kevin Donohue and Weston Nielsen, who have each already eclipsed 200 kills (244 and 201, respectively) and average more than three kills a set (3.75 and 3.05). Keeping defenses honest are Jacob Delson (141 kills, 2.39), Ryan Hardy (107, 1.55) and Jake Staahl (105, 1.50).
MULTIMEDIA
Portal.stretchinternet.com/cbulancers is your one-stop shop for live coverage of CBU athletics. Every home Lancers men's volleyball match will be broadcast live with a video stream and live stat feed, with complimentary access given for home matches. The link will be made available about 15 minutes before the match is scheduled to begin. Fans can also follow along on Twitter at twitter.com/cbulancers.
MATCH NOTES
Both matches will start at 7 p.m., with the 12th-ranked Bruins visiting the Lancer in the Van Dyne Gym Thursday and the No. 7 Gauchos coming to town Saturday. CBU is nearing the end of its season, with just one more home match left on its schedule after this week.
Last week, the Lancers put up strong fights in losses to a pair of top-15 ranked teams, No. 9 Long Beach State and #15 Cal State Northridge, last week. UCLA is coming off a pair of losses, while UCSB will have played its third match in four days.
A number of notable marks have been set by CBU this season, and that trend continued on the road last week for the Lancers. Kevin Kustura set a personal career and team season-high record for digs in a match with 17 in just three sets at Long Beach State. It is the fourth-best standard in CBU single-match history and second in three-set affairs. The Lancers had 46 digs in the next match at Cal State Northridge, with Kustura (12), Rocky DeLyon (10) and Zachary Melcher (10) each logging double-digit digs. Melcher produced a double-double with 35 assists, as well.
SERIES NOTES (UCLA)
UCLA has won 10 of its 13 matches with CBU, but the Lancers remember their three-set victory over the Bruins in the Van Dyne Gym back in 2013. CBU also defeated UCLA in 2010, snapping a six-match winning streak in the series by the Bruins that dated back to when the series began in 1999. UCLA swept CBU at home back on Feb. 17th in three (25-20, 25-17, 25-19), with 16 team blocks. Trent Kersten led the way with nine blocks and nine kills for UCLA.
SERIES NOTES (UCSB)
The Gauchos take an 11-5 lead and four-match winning streak in their series with CBU coming into this week. The Lancers have won two of three match against UC Santa Barbara in the Van Dyne Gym. UCSB won both matches versus CBU last year, but the Lancers earned a split in 2013 with a three-set home win and five-set loss on the road. In the first match between the two teams this season in Santa Barbara, CBU was hampered by injuries and suffered a 25-11, 25-15, 25-13 loss.
UCLA AT A GLANCE
The Bruins are coming off two losses, moving to eighth place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and to a No. 12 ranking in the NCAA. The Bruins, however, continue to impress in the nationally statistics coming in sixth for aces per set (1.6) and seventh for blocks per set (2.7). Coach John Speraw, who also coaches the U.S. National team, will look to improve on UCLA's recent results. The team's biggest win of the season came when it upset cross-town rival USC in four sets (25-15, 25-23, 22-25, 25-22). The Trojans were ranked third at that point and have since slipped to No. 9. Jake Arnitz (144 kills), Christian Hessenauer (134 kills) and J.T. Hatch (138 kills, .285 percentage) make up a balanced offense as the Bruins top-three hitters.
UC SANTA BARBARA AT A GLANCE
The Gauchos have grabbed their top-seven ranking with a prolific and balanced offense. Coming into its Friday match with USC, UCSB was averaging 12.61 kills and 11.70 assists a set, along with 1.31 aces. Setter Jonah Seif plays big for UC Santa Barbara in a number of ways. He obviously leads the team in assists with 720 (10.43 a set), but also ranks first with a team-high 20 aces, checks in second with 126 digs (1.83 a set) and third in blocks (50, 0.72 a set). Benefitting most from Seif's passes are Kevin Donohue and Weston Nielsen, who have each already eclipsed 200 kills (244 and 201, respectively) and average more than three kills a set (3.75 and 3.05). Keeping defenses honest are Jacob Delson (141 kills, 2.39), Ryan Hardy (107, 1.55) and Jake Staahl (105, 1.50).
MULTIMEDIA
Portal.stretchinternet.com/cbulancers is your one-stop shop for live coverage of CBU athletics. Every home Lancers men's volleyball match will be broadcast live with a video stream and live stat feed, with complimentary access given for home matches. The link will be made available about 15 minutes before the match is scheduled to begin. Fans can also follow along on Twitter at twitter.com/cbulancers.
MATCH NOTES
Players Mentioned
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