CBU Outlasts Trailblazers in Five

Saturday, October 22

St. George, Utah

5 p.m.

California Baptist University

10-115-4/ PacWest

Dixie State

8-312-7/ PacWest

California Baptist

Dixie State

Photo by: Jacob Gonzalez

CBU Outlasts Trailblazers in Five

10/22/2016 9:09:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

ST. GEORGE, Utah – Five-set matches are nothing new for California Baptist University this season, but it was an entirely new challenge on the road at Dixie State with first place in the PacWest up for grabs Saturday.

Determined not to relinquish the top spot in the conference, the Lancers defeated DSU 25-18, 21-25, 22-25, 25-16, 15-8. CBU improves to 15-4 overall and 10-1 in the PacWest and drops the Trailblazers into fifth place at 12-7, 8-3. Concordia (CA) ranks second in the conference at 19-2, 10-2 and plays at Dixie State on Sunday.

"That was a wild ride," Coach Branden Higa said. "I think the biggest thing was the fact we have played so many five setters recently the girls felt and looked comfortable taking the floor for a fifth set. We leaned on our experience, we have been there before."

The Lancers put together an all-around match, hitting .340 (67-16-150) and holding the Trailblazers to .200 (54-23-155). CBU out blocked its opponent 15-6 and also out dug them 74-63.

Jenna Perry had her hands everywhere in the match, with a near triple-double on 22 kills on a .386 mark (22-5-44), 17 digs and eight blocks.

"She put up some crazy numbers, leading our team in kills with that percentage, leading our team in digs and blocks," Higa said of Perry. "She did a great job competing, they served her a ton and she handled the service game really, really well. she served well, too, so it was really a complete game by her. That's the type of player she is, she's pretty complete and has a high volleyball IQ. Boy, we needed her tonight."

Sydney Kralj and Lauren Hackett both finished with double-doubles, as well. Kralj posted 58 assists, 16 digs, five kills while Hackett notched 18 kills and 13 digs.

CBU trailed Dixie State in set one, 14-13, but wound up running away with the win on a clinching 12-4 run. Perry, Hackett and Marr each produced two kills in that run.

After trailing 2-1 through three sets, CBU switched into a different gear the rest of the match. Momentum shifted in CBU's favor for good early on in set four. The Lancers worked their way to a 9-8 lead but then pulled away for the rest of the night with an 8-1 run. Jessica Harris orchestrated that run with four blocks. It gave CBU a 17-9 lead and they would roll to the 25-16 win to force the fifth set.

"The big thing was we struggled passing in the second and third set, but at the end of both sets we were able to figure some things out and put some runs together," Higa said. "The fourth set we played steady throughout and put a full set together. We just weathered the storm and got used to their serving a little more. Once we could control the ball, the offense was good and our hitters obviously did a great job."

The Lancers carried over the momentum from the set-four win into the fifth set by opening it on a 4-1 run, thanks to three Perry kills. CBU widened its lead to four, 6-2, on a Lauren Marr kill and combo block from Abbie Gortsema and Perry to force a Trailblazer timeout. Dixie State managed to climb back within three points, 10-7, but a block from Hackett and Jessica Harris forced DSU to use its final timeout down 11-7.

It was no use, the Lancers came out of the timeout on a Marr kill and closed the match on a 4-1 run, with Marr killing two of the final points and Perry adding a block and kill for the 15-8 victory.

Harris finished with eight blocks and three kills, while fellow middle blocker pieced together six blocks and kills. Tori Ortman also finished with 12 digs and two aces for the Lancers, who also got two aces from Kristin McCord and Tori Ortman.