SAN MARCOS, Calif. - Just two days after the Vanguard University Men's Volleyball team would successfully make their 2021 season debut, the women's team would head down to San Marcos for a double-header against Providence Christian College and the University of Saint Katherine. The Lions would split these games as they took down PCC 19-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-27, 15-10, and would fall to USK 24-26, 20-25, 15-25.
Game One: The Lions would get off to a rocky start as they went down in two separate occasions in the first set and had to claw their way back into things, eventually falling 19-25. They got off to a much better start in set two, building a 7-3 advantage, but the Sea Beggars would make a run to tighten the score. With both teams going back and forth a huge kill and block by Hailey Petersen (SO/Omaha, NE) would give the Lions some breathing room late. Two kills by Cambria Fernandez (JR/Northridge, CA) and three errors by PCC would even things up at one set apiece.
Set three was another tightly contested one as there were seven ties and three lead changes before Danielle Bellfi (JR/Murrieta, CA)'s seventh kill kickstarted a 7-1 run for the Pride to take back the advantage. Six errors in the first nine points hindered the Sea Beggars as the Lions jumped out to a 11-6 lead, but they would immediately counter with a 8-1 run of their own to go up by two. The Pride would stay in range and then a kill from Fernandez would tie things up at 23, forcing PCC to call a timeout. The Sea Beggars composed themselves and held off the Lions late to force a fifth set. In the fifth set, the Lions went down 7-4 before shaking off the rust and turning the tables, going on a 6-0 run that was finished off by an emphatic kill by Mallorie Post (SR/Federal Way, WA), her sixth of the day. The nail-biter came to a close as the Pride had five straight kills to earn their first victory of the year.
Game Two: Neither side could gain an advantage early as both defenses came out strong, altering multiple shots at the net and making tremendous digs if the ball did find a way through. Eventually, the Lions took advantage of a couple of Firebird errors to build a five point advantage, and would continue to build their lead as the presence of Samantha Arellano (JR/Tulare, CA) and Petersen in the middle stymied the St. Katherine offense. The Firebirds would stay in the fight and tie things up late in the first set, eventually securing things with a kill to go up one.
Both teams remained neck and neck in the second until the Firebirds went on a run to make it a 14-9 game, forcing a timeout by head coach JP Dorn. USK was able to keep the Pride at an arms distance for most of the way before a couple of errors and a service ace would bring the Lions back within two. Two consecutive blocks by St. Katherine's would close out the set putting the Lions in a 0-2 hole. The third set followed a similar script as the first as the Lions went down five points early on. This time, however, there would be no comeback for the Blue and Gold as the Firebirds maintained the advantage the rest of the way for the three-set victory.
Why It's Important? These were the opening contests for the women's team who finished with a 25-8 record overall and a 13-5 record in conference play last year. They would make it to the semi-finals in the GSAC Tournament before falling in a five-set thriller to Westmont College.
Notable Performances: In the first game, Bellfi had a fantastic all-around game with 13 kills, 15 digs and four blocks. Fernandez also had double-didgit kills (11) and chipped in five digs. Chandler Nelson (SO/Colorado Springs, CO) made her debut in the Blue and Gold and dished out 40 assists to go with two kills and a block. Madeline DeLuca (FR/Happy Valley, OR) had a great outing against USK as she had 13 assists and 11 digs for the Pride. Rainena Schenbeck Chang (SR/Aiea, HI) had the second-highest mark on the team in digs with nine.
What They Said: "We are rotating a ton of talent in this year that we are really excited about," said Head Coach JP Dorn. "It may not always be pretty, but as long as we stay open to learning and growing, we are on our way to implementing the values of our program so that we can achieve our goals for this season."
Next Up: Saturday, January 30th at 1:00 pm vs. the University of Saint Katherine.
#ClawsUp
