Forcing Five

Friday, January 22

Riverside, Calif.

7:00 PM

California Baptist University

UC Santa Barbara

Cal Baptist

Photo by: Conner Schuh

1/22/2016 10:06:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – It may have not resulted in the win, but California Baptist University put on a performance it could be proud of Friday night.

For the second match in a row, the Lancers found themselves in the role of underdog against ninth-ranked UC Santa Barbara at the Van Dyne Gym. Even when it fell into a hole, CBU had one answer after another to strike fear into the Gauchos, who just escaped with a five-set win 25-21, 29-31, 25-14, 22-25, 15-10. The Lancers fall to 3-4, 0-4 in MPSF and UCSB jumps to 7-2, 3-1. CBU continues its four-match homestand against No. 8 Stanford and 11th-ranked Pepperdine next Friday and Saturday, respectively, at 7 p.m. each night.

Cody Jackson stole the show in what was his first start of the season. The junior opposite hitter posted a match-high 20 kills and five aces, to go along with six digs for the Lancers. While Jackson certainly had his share of individual success, CBU Coach Derek Schmitt must have been happy with the grit his team showed with a monster comeback in the second set.

UC Santa Barbara won the first and took a 13-8 lead in the second frame. That lead helped the Gauchos take set point, 24-20, making it seem like they were on the way to a commanding lead. The Lancers refused to let that happen.

Rocky DeLyon forced sideout with a kill and Jackson started a run with a spike of his own. A combo block from Caleb Miller and Rohit Paul pulled the Lancers within a point and a Paul kill knotted the score at 24.

UCSB would hold set point on five more occasions, but each time CBU gave itself new life. DeLyon tied the score at 29-29 with a kill, and an attack error gave the Lancers their first set point, 30-29. CBU would not let it slip away, with another combo block formed by Miller and Jackson ending the set and sending the home crowd into an uproar.

CBU posted a 12-7 advantage in blocks, with five players logging at least three blocks. Miller led the way with five, while Enrique de Diego Garcia, Zachary Melcher and DeLyon each had four and Paul contributed three of his own.

DeLyon finished on Jackson's tail with 18 kills, five digs and two aces. Melcher dished out 53 assists at setter and also had three digs for CBU. Paul produced some offense and defense, even outside of the blocks, with nine kills and six digs.

Middle blockers Garcia and Miller combined to hit an even .500 (11-for-22) with seven and four kills, respectively, and not an error between them.

After suffering a 25-14 loss in the third, the Lancers came back big in the fourth and took a 15-9 lead in the early going. CBU used a 6-1 run to turn a 6-6 tie into a 12-7 lead. Garcia had a kill and block in that span, while Jackson had a kill and an ace in the run.

Shortly thereafter, three-straight Lancer points came on Jackson attacks to increase the lead to 16-10. A Jackson kill and Roy Powell ace kept it a six-point lead, 19-13, and a 3-0 run sparked by a Garcia kill, block and Jackson ace made it 22-16.

UCSB started to make its push, but kills from Paul and Garcia gave the Lancers set point, 24-21, and a DeLyon spike ended it.

The Gauchos would turn a 3-3 tie into an 8-4 lead with a 5-1 charge in the early going of set five. A Jackson kill and block from DeLyon and Miller would bring the Lancers within three, 12-9, but it was the closest CBU would get as it fell 15-10.