California Baptist University
UT Arlington
VB Preview: CBU Will Host UTA and SFA to Wrap Regular Season
11/7/2023 1:20:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
RIVERSIDE--- The California Baptist University volleyball team will close the 2023 regular season with a pair of conference home matches against UT Arlington and Stephen F. Austin.
The Lancers enter the week 7-7 in conference play after dropping matches on the road against Abilene Christian and Tarleton. A loss by Utah Tech last week secured a berth in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament for the Lancers, marking the second time the program has made the tournament in the two seasons they have been eligible.
The opposition this week begins on Thursday against the Mavericks of UT Arlington. The Mavs are currently one game ahead of CBU in the standings at 8-6 in WAC play and have the third-best overall mark in the conference at 19-8. CBU and UT matched up in early October in Arlington, where the Mavericks defeated the Lancers in straight sets. The match was one of the lowest offensive outputs of the season, with no player registering more than eight kills in the game. The Lancers will look to rebound on Thursday and earn their second victory over UTA in three total matches.
The second match of the week will be against Stephen F. Austin and the Jacks. The Jacks have clinched the regular season title and have yet to lose a game in conference play with a perfect 14-0 mark. The Jacks are the reigning WAC Champions and have not lost a game in conference since November 5, 2022. SFA and CBU matched up in early October, where the Jacks defeated the Lancer in four sets. CBU took a set off the Jacks in the match-up, one of only six times the Jacks have dropped a set in conference play this season.
The Lancers will look to move up the standings this week and will be led by Michalina Rola, who has been on a tremendous offensive spurt recently. Rola has racked up 57 kills over her past four matches and has reset her career-high in kills twice over that span. Her new career-high came in a five-set defeat in Abilene when Rola recorded 21 kills. She currently leads the team with 317 kills and is fifth in the conference in total kills.
MATCH INFORMATION:
Opponents: UT Arlington and Stephen F. Austin
Date and Times: Thursday, November 9 and Saturday, November 11
Location: Riverside, CA
Watch: ESPN+
