Box Score Irvine, CA - It was the Pac West Conference opener for both Concordia-Irvine and Fresno Pacific tonight at the CU Arena and, through the first half of the opening set, it was a seesaw affair. But then the Eagles' offense found its groove and the Sunbirds struggled to keep up, eventually dropping the match in three straight sets, 25-19, 25-14, 25-18.
Set one was a contrast in halves with the teams trading points for much of the first fifteen points. The home team stayed patient and, gradually, found some separation behind four kills from junior
Rachel Flynn (Mission Viejo, CA) and three from freshman
Cindy Tran (Irvine, CA) eventually pulling away for the six-point margin of victory.
Set two was a completely different story with Concordia coming out of the gates fast and never looking back. Flynn took charge with an unreal eight kills in the set on twelve swings with no errors (.750 hitting percentage). While Flynn inflicted most of her damage on the left side of the attack, senior
Ellie Ladensack (Phoenix, AZ) came alive in the set to add her own statement from the right. Ladensack finished the second set with 4 kills on 8 swings and no errors for a .500 hitting percentage. As a team the Eagles sided out at a ridiculous 93% in the set maintaining a big margin on its way to the 11-point win.
The final set began like the second ended, with an early run and a big lead for the home team. Four different Eagle hitters kept the visiting Sunbirds off-balance for the majority of the set, extending the lead to double digits. FPU made a push to close the gap to 20-17, forcing a Concordia timeout. The Eagles responded with a 5-1 run to close the set, winning the match on an over-pass kill by red-shirt sophomore
Hailey Gaines (Mission Viejo, CA).
The host Eagles sided out at a staggering 80% for the match, hitting for a blistering .438 as a team. Flynn finished with 15 kills (.583%) while junior
Amber Rose (Cypress, CA), Ladensack, and senior
Hannah Andrews (Rohnert Park, CA) chipped in with 6, 7 and 6 kills respectively. The visiting Sunbirds were led by outside hitter Karah Mitchell, who tallied 12 kills on the night .
Both teams have a quick turnaround with Fresno Pacific (2-3, 0-1) heading to Cal Baptist tomorrow and Concordia (10-0, 1-0) hosting Dixie State. First serve on Saturday at the CU Arena is at 5pm.
