Historic Moment For CBU

Thursday, December 1

Anchorage, Alaska

1:00 PM

California Baptist University

20-9

Western Washington

22-7

California Baptist

Western Washington

Photo by: Andrew Shortall

12/1/2016 5:28:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – For the first time in program history, California Baptist University competed in the NCAA Division II playoffs. A strong start and finish was not enough for the sixth-seeded Lancers to overcome the third seed and reigning West Region champion Western Washington in a three-set loss, 25-23, 25-11, 31-29 in the regional quarterfinals.

"We asked our kids to play hard; that was the one thing we wanted them to focus on and they did," Coach Branden Higa said. "To me, there was never a doubt in our players' minds we were in the match and able to win. It really just came down to a play here and a play there in the first and third set that WWU won and that made a difference. I am tremendously proud of how we battled."

Nevertheless, CBU enjoyed its finest season since it became a fully-fledged NCAA member in 2013. The Lancers not only qualified for the postseason but matched its best finish in the PacWest by taking second and ended with an NCAA-best 20-9 record.

"It's definitely disappointing to lose but just knowing this is the farthest we've come as a program and the confidence and cohesion our team had this year is good to remember," junior outside hitter Lauren Hackett said. "We have gained a lot more this season than we think. It is just going to roll into next season and give us more fire."

Western Washington, the 16^th-ranked team in Division II, improves to 22-7 on the year and 7-0 in the Alaska Airlines Center to advance to the West Region semifinals on Friday at 5 p.m.

No matter the result, Higa knew the playoffs would be a big moment in the history of the program.

"This is huge, until you have an experience you don't really know a lot of things," he said. "We are looking to not just repeat the success, but build on it. This experience means a lot and to break into the group that is consistently making the NCAA Tournament is huge. Experience matters, it took a very experienced team to get here and I think it's going to be tremendously valuable for us."

Several Lancers put up big performances, with Hackett and Jenna Perry each posting double-doubles. Hackett led the team with 15 kills and added 10 digs and four blocks, while Perry finished with 13 kills and 13 digs. Tori Ortman logged a team-high 15 digs, while Kristin McCord chipped in 13 more to lead the Lancers to a 69-58 advantage in digs over WWU.

CBU came out on fire in the first set, racing out to an 11-7 lead, with three-straight kills from Perry, Lauren Marr and Hackett. Later, a 4-1 run on kills from Abbie Gortsema, Hackett and a Perry ace upped the advantage to 15-10.

The Lancers retained their five-point lead all the way up until 20-15, but the Vikings started to click in at the service line to take CBU out of system. It led to a 5-0 run that tied things up at 20-20 for WWU. Three more ties were forced by the Lancers down the stretch, but straight blocks secured the 25-23 win for the Vikings.

"We had a good first set that just slipped away from us and WWU made the adjustment," Higa said. "The third set was really pivotal for us. As a coach, you always wonder if your team will be able to bounce back and I am proud they did and fought."

Down 2-0 in the match, CBU did all it could to force a fourth set. Trailing Western Washington 16-13 in the third set, an 8-3 run – fueled by four points from Hackett – led the Lancers to a 21-19 lead. WWU tied things back up at 21, which was just the first of eight ties down the stretch. There was little between both sides, but the Vikings managed to close out the match on a 4-1 charge for the 31-29 win.

Six influential seniors, including Ortman, McCord, Marr, Gortsema, Perry and Jessica Harris saw their CBU careers come to an end. Harris notched three blocks and two kills in the match, while Gortsema tallied six kills on a .455 percentage and two blocks.

"This team was really special, they bought in from the first player to the 15^th player, that's something that's really rare and I attribute a lot of that to this group of seniors," Higa said. "We are going to miss them going forward; we owe them a lot, but I am excited for the future. I couldn't be more grateful for the group that's leaving and couldn't be more excited for the group coming in."