Playoff Push Starts for Lancers

Thursday, December 1

Anchorage, Alaska

1:00 PM

California Baptist University

Western Washington

Photo by: Jacob Gonzalez

Playoff Push Starts for Lancers

11/30/2016 8:18:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – For the first time in program history, California Baptist University will compete in the NCAA Division II postseason, as the sixth seed in the 2016 West Regional hosted by Alaska Anchorage, this week.

CBU is familiar with the top of the West Region, having faced the first three seeds (No. 1 Alaska Anchorage, No. 2 Cal State San Bernardino and No. 3 Western Washington) at the D2 West Region Volleyball showcase back in September. Stakes are much higher this time around in the single-elimination tournament, with the region champion advancing to the Division II Championships held at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. on Dec. 8-10.

In the West, the postseason officially begins when the Lancers match up with one of those familiar foes from September, No. 16-ranked WWU, on Thursday at 1 p.m. PDT. Fans can follow all the West Region action with host Alaska Anchorage's live coverage.

The Lancers qualified for the postseason by earning the PacWest's automatic qualifier with a second-place finish in the conference and the sixth seed in the eight-team regional playoff. Simon Fraser and Northwest Nazarene go into the postseason seeded fourth and fifth, respectively, in the West, while Central Washington and Chico State round out to the top eight.

There is a rich history of playoff success for the CBU volleyball programs, and this year's group looks to add to it this year. Overall, the Lancers have qualified for the playoffs 23 times and own a 79-40 postseason record. They have won three national championships, with them all coming in the NAIA (2004, 2005 and 2011).

CBU has separated itself from its opposition with offensive efficiency and blocking this season. The Lancers are a top-10 team in Division II in hitting percentage and blocking, with its .277 hitting percentage and 2.39 blocks per set ranking seventh and eighth in the division, respectively. The Lancers are also 26th in total blocks (255.5), 44th in assists per set (12.45) and 46th in kills per set (13.30).

Sydney Kralj, a junior transfer from Cal State Los Angeles, runs the Lancers' offense and earned PacWest Setter of the Year honors after averaging 11.02 assists a set and 2.44 digs. CBU relies on the play of outside hitters Lauren Hackett, Jenna Perry and Lauren Marr this year. All three average more than 2.50 kills per set – on Hackett's 4.46, Perry's 3.66 and Marr's 2.66 – with Hackett and Perry earning All-PacWest honors.

Defensively, middle blockers Abbie Gortsema and Jessica Harris average more than a block a set at 1.13 and 1.07, respectively, with Gortsema notching consecutive all-conference accolades. Tori Ortman leads the backline squad at libero, with 3.64 digs a set, while Hackett and Kralj follow with 2.55 and 2.44. Kristin McCord is a strong defensive specialist, with 1.93 digs a set.

With this special group and skill set, CBU will look to see what it can accomplish in its first NCAA playoffs. It all starts with a rematch against Western Washington, and it is hard to give any team the edge on Thursday after the lopsided set scores in September. It took five sets for WWU to pull out the win (25-15, 14-25, 15-25, 25-17, 15-9) in the neutral-site match at Sonoma State on Sept. 9th. The Lancers bounced back from a first-set loss with two-straight wins before WWU closed things out on a two-set run of its own.

Hackett and Perry posted double-doubles in the match, with Hackett logging 18 kills on a .325 percentage and 10 digs and Perry finishing with 16 kills and 12 digs. McCord and Ortman put up 17 and 12 digs, respectively. For WWU, Abby Phelps (15 kills, 10 digs and five blocks) and Brette Boesel (26 assists, 11 digs) finished with double-doubles.