Flashback Stopped Short

Thursday, March 26

Riverside

7:00 PM

California Baptist University

UCLA

CBU

Photo by: Leigh Ann Lindsey

3/26/2015 10:32:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – After dropping its first two sets against No. 10 UCLA Thursday night, California Baptist University was having flashbacks to 2013 when it overcame a two-set hole to win a five-set thriller.

Unfortunately for the Lancers, history would not repeat itself, as they fell to the Bruins in four hard-fought sets, 25-19, 25-20, 20-25, 25-23. CBU is now 6-17, 2-15 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and UCLA improves to 11-8, 7-8.

After battling through an injury the past few weeks, Rocky DeLyon came on strong for the Lancers Thursday, with 12 kills on a .375 percentage. Jonathan Tuttle would claim the match-high in kills with 13 on the night. Tuttle and DeLyon also finished with eight and five digs, respectively.

Enrique de Diego Garcia had six kills and four blocks on the night for CBU. Zachary Melcher finished with 32 assists and two kills of his own.

In a 2-0 hole in sets and 9-6 deficit in the third, a 5-0 run put the Lancers in control. Tuttle had the serving honors after starting the run with a kill, going on to notch two aces in the spurt, which included a Melcher kill.

CBU widened its lead to five, 18-13, thanks to two kills each from DeLyon and Tuttle. UCLA halted a 7-3 run momentarily, but Tuttle sparked another 4-0 run with a kill. Cody Jackson played the biggest part in the run with two aces.

The lead gave the Lancers a 22-14 cushion, which was plenty enough to give CBU the 25-20 victory at the end of it.

In the fourth set, CBU fell into another early hole at 6-3 and 9-7. A 4-1 run highlighted by kills from Rohit Paul and Tuttle gave the Lancers an 11-10 edge. A 3-0 Bruin charge put CBU on the defensive again, but the Lancers would go on to take a 16-15 lead after a Caleb Miller kill.

The back-and-forth nature of the set continued, with UCLA coming on to take a 21-19 lead. Kills from Garcia and DeLyon brought CBU back within a point at 21-20 and 22-21. Miller smashed another crucial kill to keep the Lancers within 23-22, but the Bruins grabbed match point, 24-22, on a Jake Arnitz kill.

CBU moved back within a point but a Mitch Stahl kill quickly ended the Lancers' hopes of a comeback.

There will be a one day break for CBU, as it will host seventh-ranked UC Santa Barbara Saturday at 7 p.m.