Sweep Keeps Hope Alive and Well

Wednesday, March 30

Riverside, Calif.

7:00 PM

California Baptist University

UC Irvine

Cal Baptist

Photo by: Jacob Gonzalez

Sweep Keeps Hope Alive and Well

3/30/2016 9:47:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – With both teams in need of a win to boost its hopes of earning a berth into the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament, California Baptist University came out the aggressor and swept 14^th-ranked UC Irvine at home in the Van Dyne Gym Wednesday night on scores of 25-23, 25-22, 25-23.

It sets up a tie for ninth place in the MPSF, with CBU and UC Irvine sharing identical 5-14 conference records. The win came in large part thanks to CBU strong serves, which put the Anteaters on their heels and gave CBU a .312 (38 kills, 13 errors on 80 attempts) to .147 (29-18-75) advantage in hitting percentages.

"We knew it was going to be a close match, these are two evenly-matched teams right next to each other in the standings," Coach Derek Schmitt said. "We talked about what this final stretch means for a few days. We figure we need to win these last four matches and that won't even guarantee us getting in.

"I told the team, 'We aren't going to talk about it anymore, we are just going to go out and play. You know how important this match is but don't feel the pressure of it.' We did that well."

The Lancers improve to 13-14 overall and the Anteaters slide to 8-18. Both teams now trail Cal State Northridge (13-13, 6-13 in MPSF) by just one match for the eighth and final spot in the MPSF Tournament.

CBU closes out its home schedule against UC San Diego on Friday at 7 p.m. From there, the Lancers end the regular season in Hawaii, with its final two matches against the eighth-ranked Warriors.

In his second-to-last home match of his collegiate career, Roy Powell filled up the box score for CBU. The senior opposite hitter finished with a match-high 12 kills on a .310 percentage (12-3-29), three aces, five blocks and led his team with seven digs.

"We did great with the pressure and played like a family, which is a goal we have for every match," Powell said of the win. "We really came together and it just made everything easier."

Powell played a big part in CBU posting a 7-5 edge in aces, with Rohit Paul adding two of his own, along with five digs and three kills.

"We scored a ton of points from the service line tonight at key times," Schmitt said. "We got them in a lot of trouble with our serving and made it so they couldn't run their middles, who were pretty effective against us. We just wanted to put pressure on them with our serving.

"Roy was bombing all day and had three aces and just two [service] errors. We really need that from him tonight."

Rocky DeLyon and Enrique de Diego Garcia each logged nine kills with identical .412 percentages (9-2-17) for CBU. Setter Arturo Iglesias orchestrated the offense, with 30 assists, four kills in as many swings and three digs.

DeLyon and Jackson Burge each posted five blocks, while Garcia added two, to give CBU an 8.5-6 edge in blocks.

All those numbers were outshined by the Lancers' ability to come back and finish sets Wednesday.

In the opener, UC Irvine jumped out to an 8-4 lead and was up by six, 15-9, before CBU began its comeback. A Powell kill and ace sparked a run for the Lancers, bringing them within 15-11 of UCI. The charge continued with a DeLyon kill and Paul ace making it a one-point CBU deficit, 16-15, before a Garcia kill and Jackson ace put the home team up by one, 18-17.

A kill and combo block from DeLyon, with Burge and Powell in on the stuff, and a spike from Paul upped the Lancers' lead to two, 21-19. A Garcia kill and Powell ace handed the Lancers set point, 24-21, but the Anteaters crawled back within a point before a service error ended it in CBU's favor.

"This sport is point-by-point, you never know which way it's going to go. As long as you put 100-percent effort behind every play, you're going to be ok," Powell said. "I think that's what did it for us, we kept pushing and didn't let up."

CBU led 14-10 in set two but saw UC Irvine rally and take back a 17-16 lead. It did not take long for the Lancers to rebound, as they closed out the set on a 9-5 run fueled on three DeLyon kills — which included the game-winner — and two spikes from Powell. The two pin hitters, Powell and DeLyon, also teamed up for a block in the set-clinching spurt.

The Anteaters led early again in set three, 14-11, but kills from Garcia, Iglesias and Paul ace knotted the score at 14. UC Irvine took another two-point lead, 19-17, but a Paul kill and block from Powell and Garcia tied things up again and it remained that way up until 22-22.

It started a 4-1 set-sealing victory run for the Lancers, with DeLyon and Iglesias kills and two UCI errors securing the win.

Now, CBU needs a win over the Tritons on Friday at 7 p.m. in the Van Dyne Gym to keep its playoff hopes alive and well. For seniors DeLyon and Powell, they will be looking to go out with a bang in front of their home fans.

"It's weird, it doesn't feel like this is it, it feels like I am going to be coming back next year," Powell said. "It's bittersweet, I am obviously going to miss this gym, but I am excited for Friday and seeing who all comes out for senior night."