California Baptist University
Hawaii
CBU Rallies Against Rainbow Warriors
2/11/2017 10:01:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — In a return to Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play, California Baptist University came out to play and rallied late against fifth-ranked University of Hawaii on Saturday. Despite the efforts, Hawaii pulled out a 25-13, 25-17, 25-19 win over the Lancers in the Van Dyne Gym.
CBU drops to 3-9 overall and 1-7 in MPSF play while Hawaii improves to 12-2 on the season and 5-2 in conference. The Lancers continue MPSF play on Thursday, hosting Pepperdine University at 7 p.m.
Kevin Vaz finished with eight kills, four digs and two blocks, followed by Luis Palos, tallying five kills and five digs. Rohit Paul finished with four kills, while Cody Jackson, Jackson Burge and Enrique de Diego Garcia followed suit with two kills a piece.
Hawaii came out and won the first set, 25-13, despite Vaz and Caleb Miller starting the match by stuffing a Warrior kill.
The Rainbow Warriors took a 4-0 lead to start the second set, but the Lancers picked up their defense and denied Hawaii's offense of kills, with big plays from Vaz, Miller and Burge at the net. Warrior errors and a strong Lancer defense pulled CBU within six, but it could not complete the comeback in a 25-17 set loss.
Regaining their footing at the break, CBU was able to hang on in the third, keeping the deficit low and the momentum high. A service ace by Jackson kept the gap close and the pace fast. Another kill by Jackson and an ace from Paul gave the Lancers a lead in the set, 8-5, but Hawaii responded and tied up the set, 13-13. The visitors rode the momentum to the three-set win.
