CBU Sweeps Through Starkvegas

Sunday, August 26

Starkville, Miss.

9:00 AM

California Baptist University

4-0

Mississippi State

1-3

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Cal Baptist	25	25	25	3
Mississippi State	16	20	19	0

Photo by: Andrew Shortall

CBU Sweeps Through Starkvegas

8/26/2018 10:48:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

STARKVILLE, Miss. – A perfect run through the first week of the season meant California Baptist University would have to win in hostile territory, in its first true road match of the season, in a nationally broadcast game against a Power Five Conference school, Mississippi State.

The Lancers overcame all that adversity in just three sets, sweeping the Bulldogs, 25-16, 25-20, 25-19, in the final match of the Starkvegas Classic. CBU improves to 4-0 this season, while MSU drops to 1-3 in a match broadcasted on ESPN through SEC Network+.

"The team didn't operate any differently with some of the new things going on, media timeouts, a cheer team in the house, home-court advantage and a video-review challenge that we won," Coach Branden Higa said. "I am really proud of the girls for operating the same way they've always operated. There wasn't really a moment where we got outside of who we were, which is a really positive thing to see. Volleyball is about who can play their style the longest and we were able to do that all weekend, we controlled the action all weekend. It was about us and our style and other teams trying to adjust and compete against it. Our style won out."

Defensively, the Lancers remained stout with a 61-52 advantage in digs that helped hold Mississippi State to a .027 hitting percentage (23-20-112). No Bulldog had more than six kills in the match, while Megan Sester and Sydney Marks both went off for 13 and 11 kills on percentages of .303 (13-3-33) and .391 (11-2-23), respectively. Summer Avery added nine kills on a .381 clip (9-1-21).

Nicole Abreu led the Lancer defense with a match-high 18 digs, while Oaks added 17 digs and nine kills. Avery also contributed 10 digs and two aces, while Marks chipped in three blocks. Natalie Zimmerer posted 35 assists and six blocks.

The Lancers will stay on the road the next two weeks, with visits to the Fresno State Invitational and Air Force's Amy Svoboda Memorial Classic. CBU's next opponent is American University Thursday at 4 p.m. in Fresno.

CBU put three players on the Starkvegas Classic All-Tournament Team, with Marks being named the tournament's most valuable player. Avery and Oaks both earned all-tournament honors, as well. Marks had 41 kills (3.15 a set) all on a .442 hitting percentage (41-7-77) and 11 blocks (0.85 a set) on the week. Avery averaged 3.23 digs a set (42 overall) and 3.23 kills (42 overall) and added four aces. Oaks had a team-high 45 kills (3.46 a set), 54 digs (4.15) and four aces.

"We're a young team but I think there's a good amount of maturity there. They didn't seem flustered or panicked at any moment, they didn't play outside of themselves at any moment. That's big for a team that really is young, we started two true freshmen, a redshirt freshman and two sophomores this match," Higa said of Ellie Voss, Cassidy Dennison, Oaks, Sester and Marks. "They played well and played like they're upperclassmen."

It took a second for CBU to find its footing on Sunday, as Mississippi State scored the first three points of the match. The Lancers scored 11 of the next 13 points to grab an 11-5 lead. Three points from Avery (two kills, one ace), two kills from Sester, along with a kill each from Cassidy Dennison (eight digs, two kills) and Zimmerer made up the run.

The Bulldogs made a little comeback to make it a four-point game, 16-12, but CBU put it out of reach with a 7-1 spurt giving it a 23-13 advantage. Consecutive kills from Marks and one from Avery highlighted the run for the Lancers. Sester notched the final two points for CBU with kills.

In set two, the Lancers created some separation, up 12-5 after a 6-0 run that was ended on consecutive points from Marks, a combo block with Zimmerer and then a kill right after. MSU made another run and cut its deficit down to 20-17.

An Oaks kill and three unforced errors from the Bulldogs helped give CBU set point, 24-20, and Sester provided it once again with a kill.

Set three continued in a similar fashion, with CBU jumping out to an early 14-8 lead with the assistance of a 5-2 run finished off by consecutive Marks kills. Mississippi State rallied to pull within four again, 16-12, but two points each from Ellie Voss (kill, block) and Avery (two kills) widened the gap to 20-13 and forced a Bulldog timeout.

Oaks kept momentum with the Lancers with an ace out of the break, and Sester tallied all three set points with a monster kill down the line in the 25-19 Lancer win.

It was a big moment and bit of a homecoming for Higa, who got his first assistant coaching job at Mississippi State before coming to CBU in 2012.

"This was something I had thought about and thought about how cool it would be for our first Division I match and my first Division I match as a head coach to be here at Mississippi State," Higa said. "It's just a cool deal to be back where it started for me. More than that, it was cool to see a young team go 4-0 in their first tournament, share a little bit of my past with them and for them to go with it and embrace it. This has been a cool experience for everyone involved."