CBU Defeats BYU-Hawaii to Reach Playoff Goal

Saturday, November 12

Riverside, Calif.

7:20 p.m.

California Baptist University

BYU-Hawaii

California Baptist

Photo by: Jacob Gonzalez

CBU Defeats BYU-Hawaii to Reach Playoff Goal

11/12/2016 10:38:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Unbeknownst to California Baptist University, its PacWest match with BYU-Hawaii took on a lot more meaning in the middle of the third set.

Losses to two of the conference teams chasing the Lancers for the PacWest's automatic qualifier for the NCAA Division II postseason meant all CBU had to do was win and it would be in the NCAA playoffs for the first time in program history.

It did not come easy, but the fifth-ranked Lancers in the West Region showed a ton a of heart and resilience to overcome the Seasiders in four sets, including two overtime games, 22-25, 25-15, 28-26, 28-26 Saturday night in the Van Dyne Gym.

"This is my favorite match of the year, it was our best match," Coach Branden Higa said. "We had to win with heart, we had to win with determination. We talk about how great teams can't just wait for good days when they're feeling great and everything's clicking to win. Good teams find ways to win. By far, it's my favorite effort, they just had to believe and keep battling."

Both the third and fourth-place teams in the conference, Dominican (16-9, 12-5) and Hawaii Pacific (15-11, 11-6), lost on Saturday to give CBU a two-match lead on both with just two regular-season matches left for the Lancers. The best the Penguins can do is tie the Lancers in the PacWest standings, but CBU holds the tiebreaker after defeating Dominican on the road.

Higa shared that information with his group in the postgame huddle, and he was greeted by cheers and tears of joy.

"We all took it in," said senior libero Tori Ortman, who had a match-high 25 digs in the match. "It was just a super emotional moment, we've finally met our goal of getting to the postseason. We cried, we laughed, we hugged each other – it was awesome."

"It's special to have worked toward something forever and finally be there," Higa said. "It's the spot I knew we could get to, I've believed it could happen every single year. For this to be the year, with this group, they are so deserving and have worked really hard. They have put in and sacrificed a lot, I am so happy and so proud."

Sydney Kralj, Jenna Perry and Lauren Hackett all put together double-doubles. Kralj, the setter, finished with 47 assists and 14 digs. Perry had 17 kills on a .368 percentage (17-3-38) and 10 digs, while Hackett finished with 17 digs and 15 kills.

Abbie Gortsema matched her career high for kills at CBU, with nine, along with four blocks. Lauren Marr was the third Lancer to log at least 15 kills in the match, doing so at a .333 clip (15-3-36).

After dropping a close first set, the Lancers put together their best performance in set two, hitting .406 overall. Marr and Perry each recorded five kills in the set, while Hackett and Gortsema turned in four and three spikes, respectively.

BYU-Hawaii came out and took a 16-12 lead in set three, but consecutive kills from Perry and Marr started a 5-0 run, which also included a Perry ace and Gortsema block, to give CBU a 17-16 edge. The Lancers worked their way to a 23-21 lead, but it was far from over, as the Seasiders used a 3-0 charge to grab set point, 24-23.

Consecutive BYUH errors gave the Lancers new life, and ties were forced at 25-25 and 26-26. A combo block from Gortsema and Marr gave CBU set point, and Hackett provided it with a clutch kill for the 28-26 win.

Set four mirrored the third in many ways. A 5-0 run sparked by two Gortsema kills gave the Lancers a narrow lead, 17-15, in the middle going. CBU used a 3-1 run bookended by a kill from Perry and Marr to take match point, 24-23, but it would not come so easy.

The Seasiders forced ties again at 25-25 and 26-26, but kills from Kralj and Hackett delivered the emotional victory to CBU on an identical score of 28-26.

"We were able to pull this one out because of spring practices," Ortman said. "We ran probably every single day in spring, and the whole point of our strength and conditioning was to prepare us mentally, so we could win when it was 26-26 and 26-27. It's because of that that we were able to win today."

CBU hosts its Senior Day for Ortman, Gortsema, Perry, Marr, Jessica Harris and Kristin McCord on Monday against Hawaii Pacific at 7 p.m. The Lancers end the regular season at Azusa Pacific Friday at 3 p.m. They will have to keep pushing, with conference championship hopes still alive, as first-place Concordia (24-2, 15-2) plays two more matches.