CBU Clinches PacWest Title Outright

Wednesday, November 8

Riverside, Calif.

7 PM

California Baptist University

Hawaii Pacific

California Baptist

Photo by: Conner Schuh

CBU Clinches PacWest Title Outright

11/8/2017 9:38:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A conference championship was already secured for California Baptist University going into Wednesday's final home match of the regular season, but the second-ranked Lancers in NCAA Division II had no intention of sharing.

CBU swept the visiting Hawai'i Pacific Sharks 25-10, 25-23, 25-14, behind several highlight performances, to push their record-breaking unbeaten streak to 25-0, 17-0 in the PacWest. It gives the Lancers a five-match lead in the conference standings with three regular-season matches remaining.

"We have been waiting for this and working toward it for a long time," Coach Branden Higa said. "It was amazing to see the girls' faces when we won and the banner came out. Moments like that are really priceless."

Seniors Lauren Hackett and Sydney Kralj turned in dominant performances to guide CBU to victory on Wednesday. Hackett posted a match-high 16 kills on a whopping .406 hitting percentage (16-3-32), along with seven digs, two aces and two blocks.

"For the seniors, it's been a long time coming and it has been for coach, too," said Hackett, who came to CBU as a true freshman. "We have been so close in past years and to finally win it and do it in such a joyous way is awesome. I am really, really happy for Branden [Higa] and (Assistant Coach) Blair [Penner]."

Kralj orchestrated the offense to the point where the Lancers were attacking at a .342 clip overall (52-13-114) and finished with 42 assists in just three sets.

"It feels amazing, I have never won a conference championship. This is something I have looked forward to my whole life; it's one of the reasons I transferred to CBU," said Kralj, who came to CBU as a junior. "It was awesome coming in, smashing it and taking it in three -- we have worked so hard for this."

There were several impressive showings, with sophomore Elizabeth Gilley averaging more than five digs a set, with 17 in all at libero. Sydney Marks also hit .600, with nine kills and no errors on 15 swings, and three blocks. McKenna Witt pieced together a double-double with 12 digs and 10 kills, while Madison Witt added nine kills, five digs and two blocks. Yagoda Jedrzejczak gave CBU five players with at least six kills and contributed three blocks.

The Lancers set the pace early and jumped out to a 6-3 lead in the match on two kills each from Marks and McKenna. CBU did not stop there and with Nicci Hinderaker (two aces) serving unleashed a 12-3 run that put the home team in complete control, up 18-7. Hackett heated up in that stretch, with six kills, including four straight during that run.

CBU also ended the set on a 7-3 run. Two kills and a block from McKenna, a kill and block from Taylor Brubaker and a Natalie Zimmerer kill helped end the set, 25-10.

Hawai'i Pacific countered and managed to take a 7-5 lead in set two. It was a back-and-forth game, with the Lancers taking a lead around the halfway point before the Sharks came back for a 21-20 lead. A Madison kill, Hackett ace and Jedrzejczak kill helped give CBU a 23-21 edge, but HPU forced a 23-23 tie. Madison did away with any thoughts of overtime with consecutive kills to hand CBU the 25-23 win and two-set lead.

The Lancers turned up the pressure and took a 13-5 advantage quickly in set three. Four Hackett kills, three points from McKenna (two kills and an ace) and two spikes from Marks helped CBU establish the big cushion early. Things kept clicking and the lead grew to 18-8 after a Hackett kill and ace and two points from Madison.

HPU scored consecutive points to make it 18-10 before Kiera Brunson took center stage. The middle blocker made two great plays on consecutive points, saving a rally with an amazing diving dig, which led to a kill from Marks, and then notching an ace to up CBU's lead to 21-10 on the way to victory.

Despite all there was to celebrate on Wednesday, Higa and everyone else noted the work has just begun. The Lancers remained No. 1 in the second West Region rankings of the season on Wednesday and travel to Biola on Saturday at 7 p.m. for a crucial match when it comes to their hopes of hosting the West Regional Tournament.

"I am so excited for the rest of the season, that's the thing. There's more left and this just feels like a little step, but it feels really, really good," Hackett said.

CBU then ends the regular season with a trip to Hawaii, visiting Hawaii Hilo and Chaminade on Nov. 17 and 18, respectively. The Lancers are looking to build on 2016 when they finished second in the PacWest and qualified for their first NCAA postseason. They have much loftier goals for this year, though.

"Going as far as we did last year, it was a taste and now we're hungrier, we want it more," Kralj said. "The new girls we brought in this year, they've noticed our hunger and they're hungry themselves. At the beginning of the season, we didn't know we would have the year we've had – 25-0 but we have and we're PacWest champs."