Lancers Win Sixth-Straight Over Redhawks

Saturday, October 20

Riverside, Calif.

1:00 PM

California Baptist University

Seattle U

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Seattle U	25	14	26	21	1
California Baptist	13	25	28	25	3

Lancers Win Sixth-Straight Over Redhawks

10/20/2018 3:47:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – California Baptist University defeated Seattle U in four sets on Saturday afternoon to extend its winning streak to six matches.

The Lancers bounced back from game one with Seattle U thanks to their signature hustle, tough serving and blocking for a 3-1 (13-25, 25-14, 28-26, 25-21) win over the Redhawks in the Van Dyne Gym on Saturday afternoon.

"The girls stepped up and responded," Coach Branden Higa. "We just got locked in and played the way we know we can. It's always interesting to see how you respond from a loss and we responded well."

CBU improves to 17-5 and 8-2 in the WAC to maintain its lead in the conference standings. Seattle U drops to 8-13, 1-7 on the year.

Nicole Abreu was a great example of the Lancers' hustle and scrappy play on Saturday, as she made a number of impressive, one-handed digs to keep her team in rallies. Overall, the junior had 24 digs in four sets.

"We knew they were a tough team but we kept playing our game," Abreu said. "We talked in the second set and said this was the time to do it. We didn't want to let the first set happen again, we want to play well at home."

Tesa Oaks and Natalie Zimmerer each recorded double-doubles, with Oaks posting 15 kills, 12 digs, two aces and two blocks and Zimmerer finishing up with 43 assists, 12 digs, three kills and three blocks. Sydney Marks had 13 kills on a .522 percentage (13-1-23), five blocks and four digs, while Yagoda Jedrzejczak had a match-high six blocks and five kills.

Megan Sester added to the offense with 11 kills and chipped in three blocks on Saturday. Higa credited a lot of the Lancers' success from set two on to the team's hustle.

"That's what was missing in the first set, when we can pick up balls and keep the pressure on teams that's when we're at our best," Higa said. "A lot of what we do is based on that, taking advantage when they're not in the perfect spot. That's what we missed in the first set and when we had that we had an easier time with it today."

CBU bounced back from a 25-13 loss to open the match thanks to its serving and blocking in the second set. The Lancers had four aces and blocks in the set. The Lancers received four errorless kill from Marks in the second, while Sester had three kills on five swings, too. Jedrzejczak had her hand in all four of CBU's blocks in the game, as well.

"We did a good job of serving and getting them out of system, and our middles are smart at realizing what the options are," Higa said of the blocking in the second set. "They made some good reads and put themselves in great position to make solid blocks."

Oaks came up big with eight kills in set three alone. The Redhawks held set point, 24-23, but an Oaks kill tied things up. Consecutive kills from Sester gave CBU set point, 26-25, but Seattle U held it off momentarily. The Lancers finished off the set on a 4-1 run, as Summer Avery and Sester killed the last two points for a 28-26 win.

Both Oaks and Sester stayed hot in set four, with five and four kills from them, respectively, in the final game. Marks helped CBU finish the match on a 3-1 run, as she had a hand in two of those points with a block assist and a kill.

The Lancers turn right back around to host cross-town foe UC Riverside in the CBU Events Center on Tuesday at 7 p.m. CBU will then resume WAC play with matches against Chicago State and Kansas City in the Van Dyne Gym Thursday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m., respectively.