Comeback In Connecticut

Thursday, March 17

Fairfield, Conn.

4:00 PM

California Baptist University

11-13

Sacred Heart

5-12

California Baptist

Sacred Heart

Photo by: Jacob Gonzalez

3/17/2016 6:03:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – An impressive comeback in set one paved the way for a comfortable victory for 15^th-ranked California Baptist University over Sacred Heart in non-conference play Thursday.

A 28-26, 25-19, 25-18 win over the Pioneers, thanks to offensive efficiency, improved the Lancers to 11-13 and kept them undefeated in non-conference play at 7-0. Sacred Heart slides to 5-12 this year with the loss. CBU hit .360 (42 kills, 11 errors on 86 attempts) in the match, including .522 (15-3-23) in the final set, and held the home team to a .221 clip (36-17-86).

Rocky DeLyon and Roy Powell anchored the offense at the pins. DeLyon posted 14 kills on a .565 mark (14-1-23), with three blocks, three digs and two aces. Powell hit .346, with 12 kills and three errors on 26 swings. He also had four digs, two aces and two blocks.

"Rocky was strong all night, it took Roy a little time to get going, but in sets two and three he was really efficient," Coach Derek Schmitt said. "Both guys were strong at the service line, too."

Zachary Melcher set up the offense all night and compiled 35 assists, two kills and two digs in the process. Emmett Enriques kept the Pioneers' offense quiet, with 12 digs in just three sets.

"We did a nice job passing, so we could run the offense," Schmitt said. "Emmett did a nice job and made some plays, he was in the right place at the right time tonight."

For the second match in a row, CBU was in danger of dropping the first set, as Sacred Heart held a 22-19 lead late. Out of a timeout, the Lancers pulled together and forced a tie at 22, behind DeLyon's serves. Jackson Burge played a big part, as well, starting the run on a kill, continuing it on a block formed with Luis Palos and Powell, before a DeLyon ace ended the 3-0 spurt.

"We started to get it going with our serves late in the first set, and Rocky in particular got it going for us," Schmitt said. "We thought our serving could be a big advantage for us, and we had seven aces with nine errors tonight – that's pretty good."

Sacred Heart got the next point to put some pressure on the Lancers, but they responded with the next two points. An error and Powell kill gave CBU set point, 24-23. The Pioneers forced extra points with a kill and held off two more set points to force ties at 25 and 26. CBU secured the win on consecutive kills from Enrique de Diego Garcia (three kills, three blocks) and DeLyon.

"[Sacred Heart] did a nice job in the first set, digging up a lot of balls and making it tough for us," Schmitt said. "After that, it seemed like we were in pretty good control. We put them in tough situations with our serving."

A 5-0 run, started on kills from Palos (eight kills, three digs, two blocks, two aces) and DeLyon, gave CBU a 13-9 lead it would not relinquish. A 4-1 charge on kills from Garcia, DeLyon and a Palos ace then gave the Lancers a 17-12 cushion. CBU clinched the two-set lead with a 4-1 run, with two DeLyon kills, one from Melcher and a Cody Jackson ace closing out the 25-19 win.

In set three, the Lancers jumped out to an 8-5 lead but had their lead cut to one, 11-10. Palos and DeLyon gave their team some more breathing room with consecutive kills, while a Powell spike capped a 4-1 run that gave CBU a 15-11 edge.

Sacred Heart rallied back within two, 17-15, but consecutive Powell kills started a 5-0 surge, which ended on another of his spikes. It helped end things as CBU led 22-15 and never looked back.

CBU returns to Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play, but continues on the road with a trip to Stanford on March 25^that 7 p.m. The Lancers will stop at Holy Names March 26^th for a 1 p.m. match, before their final two home matches of the year. CBU hosts UC Irvine and UC San Diego in 7 p.m. matches on March 30^th and April 1^st, respectively.