California Baptist University
4-6,1-6
UC Irvine
2-7,1-6
Upset at UC Irvine
2/3/2016 9:28:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
IRVINE, Calif. – In each of its first six Mountain Pacific Sports Federation matches, California Baptist University hung with all of its opponents, despite finding itself in the role of underdog each night. The Lancers were not favored again Wednesday when they visited 11th-ranked UC Irvine, but CBU did more than hang tight against the Anteaters.
The Lancers posted a four-set win, 25-17, 25-23, 20-25, 25-19, at the Bren Events Center. CBU improved to 4-6, 1-6 in conference, while UCI dropped to 2-7, 1-6. It was the team's biggest upset victory since it knocked off third-ranked UCLA in four sets back on April 3rd, 2013. Next up for the Lancers is a trip to UC San Diego Friday at 7 p.m.
"We talked in the locker room, we have to get one [set] win and just trust that can build momentum," CBU Coach Derek Schmitt said. "We had been close in a lot of our previous sets, but hadn't been able to win many.
"We can enjoy this tonight, it's a big win for the program, but Friday night we have to go to UC San Diego and we have to battle back there."
Defense paved the way to victory for CBU, as the Lancers outhit UC Irvine .312 (51 kills, 17 errors on 109 attempts) to .168 (44-25-113). It was thanks in large part to 14.5 total blocks and a 37-31 edge in digs for the visitors.
"We did a lot of good things," Schmitt said. "We really executed well on both sides of the ball tonight."
Enrique de Diego Garcia enjoyed a career night for CBU, with a match and career-high 15 kills on just 19 swings. He finished with a .789 hitting percentage, as he did not make an error. He also wound up with more than half of the Lancers blocks, with eight overall.
"Enrique had a big night for us offensively and defensively," Schmitt said. "Enrique was on and there was no reason to go anywhere else with the ball. We just went with the flow of it."
With Garcia at the net, Emmett Enriques anchored the defense on the backline. The freshman libero wound up with his first double-digit dig night of his career, with 11 in all -- a season high for the Lancers.
"We have been motivating and encouraging [Enriques] defensively, and he stepped up his play tonight," Schmitt said. "We recruited him and envisioned him at libero, and he just did a nice job defensively and passed really well for us."
After missing the last few weeks with an injury, Arturo Iglesias returned at setter for the Lancers and posted 46 assists, six digs and two blocks, while three of his hitters finished with double-digit kills. Three more CBU players had at least three kills.
"Arturo just got back in the gym for us, went right in there and did a great job," Schmitt said. "The passers passed the really well, gave Arturo a lot of options and he made the most of them. It was good to have several options out there for Arturo."
Rocky DeLyon and Rohit Paul each finished with double-digit kills, with 14 and 10, respectively. The duo also had four blocks each, while Paul added three digs and DeLyon chipped in three to go along with an ace.
"In this league, you really need to have three guys on a night, at least," Schmitt said of his three-pronged attack on offense. "Tonight, Rocky had about 10 kills through two sets, and then Garcia picked it up when they zeroed in on him. Then in the fourth set, we went to Roy [Powell] and he was 5-0-10 there. It was good to see [Roy] in there because he was such a big part of our first three wins."
Jackson Burge saw his first extended action of the season and provided five blocks, two aces, three kills and two digs.
CBU trailed 10-8 in the first set, but used a 6-1 run to take a 14-11 lead and force a UCI timeout. Two blocks fueled the run, with Paul and Garcia in on each one, while an ace from Burge and a Garcia kill added to it, as well.
Garcia continued to impose his presence on both sides of the net, notching the next three Lancer points with a block and two kills to make it a 17-13 CBU advantage. The lead grew after three Anteater errors and the Lancers would not let up, closing out the set on a 6-2 run thanks to two kills from Paul, one each from Garcia and DeLyon, and another Burge ace.
CBU kept it coming and took a 6-2 lead to start set two after consecutive kills from Garcia, one from DeLyon and a combo block from Burge and Cody Jackson. UC Irvine battled back into a 13-13 tie, but consecutive DeLyon spikes stopped the Anteaters from gaining too much momentum. A combo block from DeLyon and Burge then gave the Lancers a 17-14 lead.
UC Irvine forced another tie at 19-19, but kills from Jackson and DeLyon restored a two-point CBU cushion. Both teams traded points down the stretch, which allowed the Lancers to take a big two-set advantage on a DeLyon kill at the end.
There was even the threat of a sweep, as CBU took a 16-12 lead in set three, but the Anteaters would comeback to force a fourth.
It was not lost on the Lancers how important it was to get avoid a fifth set. They provided the first extended run of the set to take a 15-12 lead on three-straight kills – two from DeLyon and one from Garcia – to bring on a UCI timeout.
Another 5-0 Lancer run started by a Roy Powell kill all but ensured the victory, with CBU leading 23-17. Kills from Powell and Garcia ended the match, giving the Lancers a win in what is their busiest week of the season.
CBU will head to UC San Diego Friday to continue MPSF play. The Lancers then get a short break from conference action, as they host Holy Names and Concordia on Saturday, with match times at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively.
