Rocklin, Calif. -- Vanguard women's volleyball snapped their eight-game losing streak Friday night up north. Vanguard recorded their third sweep of the year over the Warriors of William Jessup, winning with set scores of 25-18, 25-18, 25-20. VU improves to 11-9 overall and 6-8 in the Golden State Athletic Conference. The Warriors drop to 9-11 overall and 8-4 in the GSAC.
What Happened? Vanguard started out equal to WJU, with Hailey Petersen (JR/Omaha, NE) getting the first kill for the Lions to tie the score at 1-1. Cambria Fernandez (SR/Northridge, CA) and Jordan Doiron (SO/Temecula, CA) kept the Lions in step with the Warriors as the first set moved along, as each collected their first kill of the night. Tied at 9-all, VU got a booming kill from Fernandez and a diving ace from Danielle Bellfi (SR/Murrieta, CA) to take a 13-9 lead. The Warriors got two points back right away but the Blue and Gold were able to keep a couple of points between them and their hosts as the set moved forward. Samantha Arellano (SR/Tulare, CA) and Callie Bickmore (SO/Auburn, CA) each put away kills to help inch the Lions out to a 20-16 lead. Doiron lashed down a kill to give the Lions a 24-18 edge, and a block from Bickmore gave VU the first set 25-18. The team hit .240 in the frame, with 10 kills and four errors, while the Warriors hit .036.
Set Two
The team went down 1-0 again to start the set but the Lions got the next two points, with Arellano smashing down a kill to put the Lions up 2-1. Once more, the Warriors marched through the opening rallies just about even with VU, as the score remained pretty much tied. But once again, a small run proved to be the difference. A clinical kill from Bickmore, an attack error, and an ace from Fernandez pushed the Lions ahead 8-5. William Jessup tried to respond but they could not string together a long rally of their own. Ahead 14-10, the Lions got a booming kill from Bellfi, an ace from Rachel Lim (FR/La Palma, CA), and another cannon of a kill from Fernandez to take a 17-12 lead. The Warriors got a few more points over the final stages but Bellfi recorded pair of kills down the stretch to keep momentum with VU. Fernandez laid down a kill to make it 24-18 and another attack error by WJU handed the Lions set two 25-18. VU hit .400 in the set, with 16 kills and only two errors. WJU hit .139.
Set Three
The Blue and Gold dropped the first two points of the frame, but Bellfi and Fernandez quickly leveled the score at 2-2. A couple of blocks from Arellano propelled the team to a 5-3 lead, with #18 also getting the next kill for the Lions as well. The Warriors, fighting to survive in the match, played with resiliency as the first set continued, as the score remained pretty much equal until the game was knotted at 15-all. A delicious ace from Lim and a pair of attack errors let VU escape with a three-point lead they would not relent. Doiron and Bickmore each had some high-powered kills towards the end of the set, with Doiron putting the final ball down with authority to take set three 25-20 and the match 3-0. VU hit .414 in the game, with 14 kills and two errors, all while holding William Jessup to a .114 hitting percentage in the third and .101 for the entire match.
The Lions were led by Fernandez and Bickmore in kills, as each posted nine, though the tiebreaker goes to Callie, who had no errors over her 10 attempts. Doiron had a good night with seven kills, a season-high, while Bellfi was next with six. Madeline DeLucia (SO/Happy Valley, OR) had 21 assists on the night, while Lim had 15. The defense racked up 40 digs, with DeLucia and Blair Dodge (FR/Aliso Viejo, CA) each posting 12. The team had six aces and 13 total blocks.
Why is it important? Vanguard keeps their strong record against William Jessup going, as the team moves to 18-1 against the Warriors all-time. It was also the best hitting night for the team, with a season-best .360 hitting percentage and only eight attack errors.
What was said? "Tonight, we played to win, we played loose, and we got back to the basics," said Head Coach Jennifer Dorn. "We've been playing a lot more out of system volleyball in practice and getting more comfortable when things get hard and I feel like that paid off for us. We didn't let runs go and we rebounded from errors quickly. Our passers and defense did a great job putting the ball towards the middle of the court and the setters did a great job of putting the ball where it needed to be. Our hitters were on fire, especially Callie, who tied for a match-high in kills and hit .900!"
What's Next? The team will get some rest tonight and be back at it tomorrow against Menlo at 2 p.m.
