California Baptist University
7-16,3-8WAC
Utah Tech
17-5,8-2WAC
CBU Falls in Five Sets to Utah Tech in Final Home Contest
11/8/2025 7:38:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
RIVERSIDE--- The California Baptist University volleyball team closed out its home schedule on Saturday afternoon, falling in a hard-fought five-set battle to Utah Tech in Riverside.
The Lancers played one of their most complete games of the season with standout performances from Reese Reed, Emery Dejong, and Olivia Melton, but it would be the Trailblazers who would emerge with the 3-2 victory in a thriller. The loss puts CBU at 3-8 in the conference while Utah Tech comes within a half game of Utah Valley at the top of the standings.
The match was entertaining from the outset, with the first set being a back-and-forth slugfest. The Trailblazers would break the seesaw affair with a 6-0 run down the stretch of the period to give themselves a 23-16 lead before CBU would rattle off four straight to make things interesting. Utah Tech would get the final two points off kills from their outsides to take the 1-0 lead. CBU would respond in the second set with a gritty all-around performance. The Lancers led 22-18 before UTU went on a 5-2 scoring run to come within one. Olivia Melton would hold off the Trailblazer comeback with a powerful kill off an assist from Reese Reed to tie the match at one set apiece, 25-23.
The Lancers and Trailblazers would continue to battle each other to a stalemate in the third period as neither team could seem to take control. CBU would exercise a 6-1 run to take its largest lead of the set at 18-14, but the Trailblazers would chop the lead down to one at 22-21. The Lancers would hold off another UTU comeback with a 3-0 run to end the set 25-21 in their favor. Utah Tech would respond well with its back against the wall in a potential clinching set for the Lancers. The Trailblazers would fall behind 16-13 but would mount another comeback to inch within one point. CBU would only register one point on the final seven rallies as the Trailblazers would force a fifth set in Van Dyne Gym.
Utah Tech got the early momentum swing in set five with a quick 4-0 start, but CBU quickly erased that momentum with a 5-1 run to tie the set at five points each. The Lancers would eventually grab a 10-8 lead to force Utah Tech to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, the Lancers' lead grew to three points, but the Trailblazers would not blink and scored the final six points of the set to escape Riverside with a 15-12 set win and the five-set match win to keep themselves firmly in the hunt for the regular season title.
The Lancers got career efforts from several players despite the loss, including arguably the best game of Reese Reed's phenomenal career. The senior setter in her final match at Van Dyne Gym would go for a career-high 41 assists and add a season high 13 digs as well. Reed would also register a pair of kills and showed off some defensive prowess with two blocks. Emery DeJong has been one of the best hitters in the conference over the past month and continued her high-level play with 18 kills, three aces, 12 digs, and a game-high 21 points.
Olivia Melton was also phenomenal in the match with a season-high 15 kills and 14 digs, which was also a season-high for the senior. Melton would also record a career-best .433 hitting percentage, showcasing the efficiency for Trevor Johnson's offense. Eleftheria Baxa would be the fourth Lancer with double-digit kills, with 12, and would add four blocks. Gianna Perez would rack up 19 digs to lead the Lancers and had a career-best eight assists as well.
NEXT: The Lancers will hit the road next week for their final regular-season match at Abilene Christian as they look to finalize their position in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament.
