Box Score Two teams entered tonight's match with one loss in PacWest play. Something had to give and through four sets it was anyone's guess as to what direction things were headed. In the sets they won, each team seemed unstoppable and in the sets they lost each seemed without answers. In the end, Cal Baptist found just a few more answers than the Eagles, coming out on top of the 5-set battle (25-18, 17-25, 19-25, 25-14, 15-13).
Each of the first four sets had a single defining run by the eventual winner. In set one it was a 5-0 run by the visitors that created some separation from a narrow 15-14 CBU lead. CBU's conference-leading offense was in full-effect, finishing with a .455 hitting percentage with just one error on 22 swings.
In set two it was a fast start by the home standing Eagles that was the difference. CUI jumped out to a 9-2 lead in a set where the Eagles held the visitors to an uncharacteristic .033 hitting percentage. CBU finished with more kills in the set (11-10) but also had more than twice as many attack errors (10-4).
The third set was similar to the first, but the roles changed as a close 9-7 lead for Concordia quickly extend to 14-7 on a 5-point run. The Lancers did not get closer than four the rest of the way. The Eagles' stingy block and defense, along with some pressure from the service line, kept CBU off-balance and forced them into another high-error set. The Lancers hit just .026 with nine hitting errors.
Red-shirt Sophomore Hailey Gaines was the offensive catalyst for the Eagles in the third. After being sidelined for the past week, Gaines riddled the CBU block for 5 kills on just 11 swings in the set.
But momentum can be fickle, and what seemed to be an Eagle team that had found its groove, quickly turned into the Lancers jumping out to a 12-5 lead. Five blocks by CBU gave CUI very little room to put together a run to close the gap and the Eagles would not get any closer than four on their way to the final 14-25 score. The Eagles, once again, finished with more kills than the Lancers (13-10), but it was a 10-1 difference in hitting errors that proved too much to overcome for Concordia.
As it frequently goes when there are two evenly matched teams, the 5th set takes on a life of its own. Whereas much of the first four sets were defined by errors, the final set was two teams matching each other, blow for blow with each teams' leading players stepping to the forefront. Concordia's Rachel Flynn found the floor with 8 kills in the set and the CBU tandem of Lauren Hackett and Jenna Perry dialed up 10 total kills.
No one found breathing room, as the home team stayed on the front side of the lead and six tied up scores until the teams switched sides up 8-7. Cal Baptist scored three of the next four points to take the lead at 11-10. But all leads were tenuous at best, as the set tied again at 12, and again at 13. On the end of two extended rallies, CBU came up with the final two points on kills by conference-leading Hackett and 5th-year senior middle Abbie Gortsema, to close out the match 15-13.
"This was another important match for us against a very talented Cal Baptist team," Head Coach Paula Weishoff reflected. "If we walk away from this loss and get better in how we maintain our composure in matches like this then it's a win for us. Both teams showed a really high level of play at times and the fifth set was really well-played. We just came up short at the end."
Concordia (16-2 overall, 7-2 PacWest) heads back on the road next week with three matches in Hawaii. They will face Hawaii-Hilo on Thursday (10 p.m. PST) and then island hop to Oahu where they will match up against BYU-Hawaii on Saturday (10:30 p.m. PST) and Chaminade on Sunday (6 p.m. PST).
