CBU Dominates Up the Middle

Thursday, September 7

Anchorage, Alaska

4 PM

California Baptist University

4-0

Western Washington

3-2

California Baptist

Western Washington

Photo by: Andrew Shortall

CBU Dominates Up the Middle

9/7/2017 6:30:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – No matter the opponent, California Baptist University has been impossible to slow down early on this season. The 24^th-ranked Lancers continued their torrid pace at the elite NCAA Division II West Region Volleyball Showcase when they swept No. 10 Western Washington, 25-14, 25-21, 25-18 on Thursday at Alaska Anchorage.

It moves CBU to 4-0 this season, which is one win shy of its program-best winning streak to open a year as an NCAA program – which was a 5-0 beginning in 2016. This has without a doubt been the Lancers' best start to an NCAA campaign already, though, as they have already knocked off two top-10 ranked foes after they defeated then fifth-ranked Winona State in four sets last Saturday.

"To be honest, we never really talk about rankings as a team, for this team that doesn't matter," Coach Branden Higa said. "They're trying to play their best regardless of who's on the other side of the court. They knew this was a top team and one of the best in the GNAC, but our girls were very focused and weren't too overly hyped for this match, just really dialed in to play well. We played with a lot of poise, a lot of composure and we executed well."

CBU's middle blockers were crucial to their team's success on Thursday. True freshman Sydney Marks enjoyed the best match of her young season on Thursday, as the middle blocker hit .588, with 11 kills and just one error on 17 swings. Yagoda Jedrzejczak hit at an even higher percentage of .700, with eight kills and also just one error on 10 swings.

"The middles were huge for us," Higa said. "They were working tremendously hard, a lot of their kills were late into rallies. They kept working in transition until they got a good look at it, and when they did, they took care of it. They were an option almost every time, which is what a great middle does. A lot of times it doesn't show up in the box score, but it did tonight."

It led to the Lancers hitting .317 as a team (53-15-120), while their defense out dug the Vikings 63-40 to hold Western Washington to a .144 percentage (32-15-118). Nicci Hinderaker played a big part in that, as the libero finished with 25 digs in just three sets to give her at least 25 digs in the last two matches.

"She's doing a great job for us, she's a player we knew would end up playing a big role for us," Higa said of Hinderaker. "As we recruited her, we knew she would be able to step into that role. I think she's getting better as the year goes on, too."

Sydney Kralj, the setter, kept defenses guessing, with 46 assists, eight digs, two kills and wound up with five players with at least eight kills. McKenna Witt put together another double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs, while Lauren Hackett killed a match-high 13 balls and also added eight digs. Madison Witt was another two-way threat again, with eight kills and nine digs.

CBU made its first statement in the match with a 7-1 run that turned a 5-5 tie into a 12-6 Lancer lead. Marks had three kills in that span, while McKenna started it with a spike of her own.

The Lancers pushed their advantage out to 16-8, as a 4-1 exchange highlighted by kills from Jedrzejczak and Madison put WWU in an uncomfortable position.

The Vikings assembled their first run, 4-0, to make it a four-point deficit, 16-12, but McKenna and Marks killed consecutive points to kick start a 6-1 run and essentially end the set, with CBU up 22-13. McKenna had two more kills and a block left in the run, while Marks chipped in a block and another kill before the set was over, as well.

In set two, the Lancers broke another early tie (3-3) with a 6-1 flurry, coming on two Hackett kills and one each from the Witt twins. The Vikings battled all the way back within one point of CBU, 16-15, but the Lancers rebounded out of a timeout, with three-straight kills from Hackett, Jedrzejczak and Kralj, for a 19-15 cushion.

Western Washington put in one last run to pull within 22-20 of CBU, but a Jedrzejczak kill kept the Vikings at arm's length, and Marks secured set point with another spike, helping the Lancers finish the game on a 3-1 run.

CBU overcame deficits of 5-2 and 12-9 in set three. A 4-1 run sparked by a kill from McKenna and Madison gave the Lancers a 17-14 edge. A 6-0 run, fueled by three kills from Hackett, put the match away, with the Lancers on the verge of match point, 24-18, and sealed the deal.