Box Score RIVERSIDE, Calif. - When November comes around and two evenly matched teams are seeing each other for the second time, and hours of video have been viewed to create scouting reports and game plans, a match frequently comes down to which team can maintain its style of play and execute its game plan the most consistently.
About a month ago, when the teams faced off for the first time at the CUI Arena, each of the first four sets saw one team struggle and the other thrive and, in the end, the match came down to a tightly contested fifth set that could have gone either way. On that night CBU got the plays it needed for the 15-13 win.
Saturday afternoon's rematch was just different. It was a match of two dominant teams playing at a consistently high level, with their key players at their best. This match saw CBU go for 19 kills and a .333 hitting percentage in set one.... and lose, 28-26.
After holding on for a 25-20 second set win Concordia, walked away from the third set with 16 kills and a .350 hitting percentage. Most, when seeing that statistic, would assume an Eagles sweep.... but, instead, the Lancers (22 kills and a .442%) found themselves revitalized with a 25-22 win.
CBU took the momentum into the fourth and cruised to an easy 25-17 win behind the arms of its big three, Lauren Hackett, Jenna Perry and Lauren Marr.
Then came set five and, like on October 8th, it came down to who would exert their will more consistently for 15 points. Yesterday, it was Concordia's turn. All season long the Eagles have looked to Junior
Rachel Flynn to finish, and she has delivered. Today, Concordia brought a different hand to the table. The Eagles saw the Lancer's three of a kind and raised them a full house - five players contributing both kills and blocks to deliver a decisive 15-9 fifth set win.
Kyra Auten,
Cindy Tran,
Ellie Ladensack,
Hannah Andrews and Flynn all had multiple kills in the set while
Amber Rose helped close the door, combining with Ladensack, Andrews, and Tran for four of her match and season high 11 blocks.
Andrews took the offensive load today with a career high 24 kills on 57 swings while Flynn quietly added her ninth double-double (16 kills, 12 digs) to her season resume. Ladensack(11) and Tran(12) made it four Eagles with double digit kills while setter
Logan Groveadded her own double-double with 17 assists and 10 digs. Senior Libero
Taylor Dennison dialed up her sixth 20+ dig performance in the last seven matches with a match-high 24.
With the win Concordia (23-2, 14-2 PacWest) moves a full match ahead of CBU atop the PacWest standings. Next up for the Eagles will be BYU-Hawaii on Friday (7 p.m.), followed by Senior Night against Hawaii Pacific on Saturday at 5 p.m..
