History in the Making

Saturday, January 9

Santa Barbara, Calif.

11:00 AM

California Baptist University

3-0

Lindenwood

0-3

Lindenwood

California Baptist

Photo by: Jacob Gonzalez

1/9/2016 1:04:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – After getting out to its finest start to a season in over 10 years the day before, California Baptist University had a chance to open a campaign with three-straight wins for the first time ever.

In order to do so, the Lancers would need to exact revenge on a Lindenwood team that handed them a tough five-set loss in Riverside back in 2015. CBU was up to both tasks and swept the Lions on scores of 25-21, 25-19, 25-22 to end its run in the UC Santa Barbara Asics Invitational Saturday morning.

"We just stayed pretty consistent, especially when it came to our serving, passing and our offense," Coach Derek Schmitt said, explaining his team's success over the last two days. "We also got blocks, digs and kills at key times to stop the other teams' momentum."

Rocky DeLyon was instrumental in the victory. The senior captain led the Lancers in kills (nine), aces (two), digs (four) and added three blocks for an all-around impressive showing. Roy Powell finished with a second-best seven kills.

"Those two guys [DeLyon and Powell] were consistent through the whole weekend," Schmitt said. "Those two seniors were very instrumental in us going 3-0, and I'm proud of them for stepping up and starting their senior years on such a high note."

Caleb Miller helped CBU achieve an 8-5 edge in blocks, with a match-high six to his credit. Enrique de Diego Garcia added three kills and two blocks from the middle, as well.

Those blocks helped the Lancers to a .281 to .143 advantage in hitting percentage, with CBU killing 30 of its 64 attempts, with just 12 errors. It got better as the match moved on, with the Lancers posting .333 (10-3-21) and .350 (9-2-20) marks in the final two sets.

"We just really tried to stay disciplined," Schmitt said of his blockers. "We do have a good blocking team and just made good moves at the right time."

Two freshmen anchored the Lancers at setter and libero, with redshirt Arturo Iglesias dishing out 22 assists and four digs, while true freshman Emmett Enriques chipped in four assists and three digs on the back line.

"Arturo did a nice job running the offense, finding hot hitters and the right matchups this week," Schmitt said. "He, Rocky and Roy were the only ones who played every point through the whole weekend."

California Baptist University came up with a commanding run in the early going of the match, using a 6-0 charge to turn an 8-7 deficit into a 13-8 lead. Consecutive aces from DeLyon ended the run, while kills from him, Roy Powell (seven) and Luis Palo contributed to the onslaught, as well.

Lindenwood knew there was plenty of time left and climbed all the way back within a point, 20-19, to force a CBU timeout. DeLyon delivered a huge kill out of the break, and Powell provided the next three Lancer points on two kills and an ace to produce set point, which was delivered by a Palo spike on the very next play.

A 3-0 run gave CBU a 5-1 lead in set two, and a Rohit Paul kill started a 4-0 Lancer spurt that made it a six-point lead, 16-10, about halfway through the set. The Lions would pull within three, 20-17, but no closer, as consecutive kills from the middle – provided by Miller and Garcia – put the Lancers well on their way to another win. Consecutive kills from Iglesias and DeLyon ended the set, 25-19.

Lindenwood would grab a rare lead, 11-9, in set three, but it was short lived. An Iglesias kill and combo block from DeLyon and Miller put CBU on a 4-0 run to make it 13-11 in its favor. The Lions grabbed another small edge, 19-18, but the Lancers had more in store.

Garcia sparked a 4-1 run with two kills to give CBU a 22-20 edge. From there, both teams exchanged sideouts, with a DeLyon kill giving the Lancers service again with a 23-21 lead. The final two points of the match came on Lindenwood errors, sending CBU home with a perfect 3-0 record.

Now, the Lancers turn their focus to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation portion of their schedule. They open at Cal State Northridge on Wednesday and then travel to Long Beach State Friday. Both matches start at 7 p.m. CBU debuts at home Jan. 20th against UCLA at 7 p.m.

"We are having a great trip home, the guys are having fun and enjoying this for now," Schmitt said. "We know the MPSF schedule is right around the corner, and we still have more work to do. We are going to come in Monday and Tuesday and work on getting better and more consistent."