Lancers Win First NIVC Match in Five Sets

Thursday, November 29

New Orleans, La.

3:00 PM

California Baptist University

21-10

Little Rock

19-13

California Baptist

Little Rock

Summer Avery leads CBU to a five-set victory over CSU Bakersfield

Photo by: Reagan Lee

Lancers Win First NIVC Match in Five Sets

11/29/2018 6:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

NEW ORLEANS, La. – History was made when California Baptist University took the court on Thursday, and done in exciting fashion as the Lancers defeated Little Rock in five sets (17-25, 25-12, 25-17, 20-25, 15-11) in the first round of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship.

The Lancers were the first team at CBU to qualify for a national Division I postseason tournament, and they made the most of their opportunity. The dramatic win improves the Lancers' record to 21-10 on the year, as they advance to play regional-round host Tulane in the second round of the NIVC Friday at 5 p.m. PDT. Little Rock ends its season with a 19-13 record.

"We talked all week about just making the most of our moments and just how special this moment is -- there are 230 teams that didn't play today," Coach Branden Higa said. "They responded really well and they adjusted, it was a beautiful thing."

A balanced offense helped CBU down the Trojans, as four Lancers had at least nine kills and the team hit .251 overall (61 kills, 16 errors and 179 attacks). Summer Avery, Tesa Oaks and Natalie Zimmerer all had double-doubles in the victory, while Nicole Abreu had an impressive 29 digs.

Avery had a match-high 18 kills on a .357 percentage (18-3-42) and 11 digs, while Oaks had 14 kills, 10 digs, two blocks and two aces. Zimmerer notched 50-plus assists (51) for the seventh time this season and added 15 digs, as well.

In the middle, Sydney Marks was extremely efficient offensively, with 14 kills at a .429 clip (14-2-28), while defensively she had four blocks and four digs. Megan Sester came close to a double-double, with nine kills, seven digs and two blocks, as well. Elizabeth Gilley made a big impact with eight digs and an ace for the Lancers.

"That's what you need against good teams and in a playoff, one-and-done situation," Higa said. "You need everyone to be on, otherwise good teams will find a way to beat you. We are going to need that tomorrow night, too, a total team effort."

Set five continued to be a special one for CBU this season, as it improved to 7-1 in five-set matches this year and hit .480 (12-0-25) in the game.

"We have been poised all year, and we really had it in that fifth set," Higa said.

Tied at 7-7, the Lancers began to pull away with a 3-0 run, helped by two Oaks kills, in the final set. Little Rock pulled back within two, 12-10, but a kill from Avery and Marks gave the Lancers match point. Marks provided it with her 14^th kill of the match. Avery had four kills in the game, while Marks and Oaks each had three and Sester added two more.

"Summer and Sydney were hot all night, they didn't have an answer for either of them . Nat did a great job in the fifth set of riding those two hitters whenever she could and they delivered," Higa said. "Sydney has been doing that all year, if she find a seam or get one-on-one she's going to kill it. Summer was just being really aggressive and attacking with a ton of confidence."

CBU picks up the 15-11 win in set five to defeat Little Rock (17-25, 25-12, 25-17, 20-25, 15-11). The Lancers improve to 21-10 and advance in the @WomensNIVC.

Here is the final point of the match. Sydney Marks notched the Lancers' last two points with kills. #LanceUp pic.twitter.com/XOajm6wZtG
— CBU Volleyball (@CBUvolleyball) November 30, 2018

In its first match in over two weeks, CBU dropped set one 25-17, but came back and won convincingly in set two, 25-12. Avery was crucial in the set, with seven kills and four digs, while Abreu also had eight digs in the game. CBU started set two on a 9-3 run, thanks to three points from Oaks and two kills each from Yagoda Jedrzejczak (five kills, three blocks) and Sester. When Little rock pulled back within five, 15-10, the Lancers went off on an 10-2 run, thanks to six Avery kills, that ended the set, 25-12.

"Set two was a big moment for us because we felt the the time off in set one. We really had to find that competitiveness and connect again to our aggressiveness and who we are," Higa said. "After set two, we knew we were in it and we were going to be able to compete and it was going to be a good match."

🌡🌡🌡

Summer Avery is heating up!

Out of a timeout, CBU rattles off a 4-0 run to take a 19-10 lead in set two. Avery comes up with three of those points on kills, while Tesa Oaks adds an ace.#LanceUp pic.twitter.com/xA7CzcbcqV
— CBU Volleyball (@CBUvolleyball) November 29, 2018

In set three, CBU broke a 5-5 tie with a 6-0 run for an 11-5 lead. Marks had two kills, while Oaks and Zimmerer each added a kill and Gilley notched an ace. The Trojans managed to make it a two-point deficit, 12-10, only for the Lancers to erupt for a 7-1 run out of a timeout. Jedrzejczak had a block and kill in the run, while Avery had three kills in the run that gave CBU a comfortable 19-11 lead en route to the 25-17 win.

🔨 time!

Megan Sester smashes this one right in the middle of the court to give CBU a 22-16 lead in set three!#LanceUp pic.twitter.com/Teg7ihiPtL
— CBU Volleyball (@CBUvolleyball) November 30, 2018

"Tonight didn't surprise me because the moments this season haven't been too big for this team," Higa said. "We have been treated to an experience like this [at the NIVC], and we have a team that can enjoy the moment and compete. We need to take advantage of it and just really savor and make the most of what we have."