COSTA MESA, Calif. - The Vanguard Lions were looking for revenge after their three-set loss against the University of Saint Katherine on January 22nd. Despite a hot and cold performance, the Lions were able to exact their revenge with a five-set victory, taking the match 20-25, 25-23, 17-25, 25-20, 15-11.
What Happened? USK went on a couple of runs early in the first set to maintain a five-point advantage Three consecutive service aces by Kynzey Mitzel (JR/Tigard, OR) would bring the Lions back within one. Both teams would stay neck and neck until the very end when three consecutive kills by the Firebirds would give them a one-set advantage. The Pride bounced back early in the second set as they took a 7-2 advantage early on. This time USK would fight back to draw within three, forcing Vanguard to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, the Lions extended their lead back to seven with a block by Cambria Fernandez (JR/Northridge, CA) and Mallorie Post (SR/Federal Way, WA) and a service ace by Madeline DeLuca (FR/Happy Valley, OR). VU would survive another late push by the Firebirds and tied things up at one set apiece.
The match trend continued in the third set as the visitors recorded their best hitting percentage of the match to go up 2-1 in the match. Samantha Arellano (JR/Tulare, CA) took over early in the fourth set with three consecutive kills, a good sign for the Lions who had slowly started to pick up their offensive production. After being tied 5-5 to start the set, the Lions would go on a 14-5 run en route to sending the match to a decisive fifth set. In the fifth set, the Firebirds would go up 6-4 before the Pride flipped the script and would score six straight points capped off by a pair of kills by Fernandez. The Lions took advantage of three errors by USK down the stretch to take the fifth set and earn their second win the season.
Why It's Important? The Lions dug deep yet again and pulled out their second five-set victory in eight days, earning a bit of revenge as they fell to USK in three sets in the second game of their doubleheader on the 22nd.
Notable Performances: Fernandez led the way with 15 kills to go along with 17 digs, one solo block and one block assist. Arellano also had double-digit kills (11) to go with two block assists. DeLuca dished out 37 assists and had a team-high 24 digs while Rainena Schenbeck-Chang had 19 digs. Mallorie Post had the highest hitting percentage on the team with six kills on 14 attempts.
What They Said: "We're super super stoked about that win. This whole entire week we've been practicing, going hard in the gym, we've been learning a lot about grit and what it looks like to have self-discipline and seeking to bring the desire to see through what goals we have" said Head Coach JP Dorn. "I really think that we dove within and pressed into that team culture, positivity, and pressed into God and we fought together and that's how I think we pulled it through and we're stoked for our next game!"
What's Next: Thursday, February 4th against La Sierra University at 7:00 p.m.
#ClawsUp
