CBU Battles Another WAC Favorite

Saturday, September 22

Riverside, Calif.

7:00 PM

California Baptist University

UT Rio Grande Valley

UTRGV

California Baptist

Photo by: Reagan Lee

CBU Battles Another WAC Favorite

9/22/2018 10:34:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – For the second match in a row, California Baptist University looked to knock off a top Western Athletic Conference team.

This time, it was The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley visiting the Van Dyne Gym on Saturday night. The Lancers won the first set against the Vaqueros, who were the preseason No. 2 pick in the conference, and battled the rest of the way to force two overtime sets in a four-set loss (20-25, 27-25, 25-18, 27-25).

At the end of the first week of the inaugural WAC season, CBU is 10-4, 1-1 in conference and UTRGV improves to 10-6, 1-1. The University of Missouri-Kansas City (11-5, 2-0) and CSU Bakersfield (8-6, 2-0) are the only two undefeated teams left standing in the conference.

The Lancers play two more WAC matches on the road next week. They visit Utah Valley Thursday at 10 a.m. PDT and then travel to Kansas City for an 11 a.m. first serve on Saturday.

CBU had four players notched double-digit kills against UTRGV. Tesa Oaks led the charge by matching her career high of 23 kills in a match, while Summer Avery (13), Sydney Marks (12) and Megan Sester (12) joined her with more than 10 kills. Marks (.393, 12-1-28); Avery (.345, 13-3-29) and Oaks (.327, 23-7-49) all hit over .325 in the match.

Avery tallied her second double-double in a row with 11 digs, while Nicole Abreu led the defense with 13 digs. Marks added three blocks and three digs, and Oaks chipped in four digs and two aces. Natalie Zimmerer did a great job of balancing the offense while putting up 48 assists, nine digs and fueling the Lancers to a .241 hitting percentage (63-25-158) as a team.

Set one previewed just how close the match would be, with a 6-2 UTRGV run forcing a 16-16 tie. The Lancers forced sideout on a Sester kill. The spike sparked a 6-1 run that included a block and kill from Marks and aces from Cassidy Dennison and Elizabeth Gilley to give the Lancers a 22-17 lead. The Vaqueros scored consecutive points from there but were denied a comeback. Oaks tallied consecutive CBU points with kills before Avery bounced the game winner, 25-20.

The second set was one run after another, with the Lancers going in front 7-1 to start. UTRGV fought back to take a 17-16 lead, but CBU scored four-straight points on two Sester kills and an Abreu ace to go back up 20-17. The Vaqueros answered right back with a 5-0 run to take a 22-20 advantage.

Two kills from Sester and one from Marks helped the Lancers flip the script and take match point, 24-23. UTRGV forced a tie and used that momentum to create a 4-1 run that won it the game, 27-25, and tied the match up at 1-1.

UTRGV won the third set 25-18, and looked to pull away for good up 18-15 in the fourth set. Two kills from Oaks and two points from Sester (block, kill) highlighted a 5-1 CBU run that put it up 21-20. The Vaqueros were desperate to avoid a fifth set and took match point twice, but Oaks denied them both times with kills to create a 25-25 tie. A kill and block from there helped UTRGV score the final two points of the match and escape with the win.