Costa Mesa -- Senior day for the Vanguard women's volleyball team saw the squad honor the five seniors on the roster for their hard work and dedication to the program before taking on the Spirit of Ottawa University of Arizona. The Lions eventually found a rhythm against the Golden State Athletic Conference Champions but the Spirit emerged victorious in four sets. OUAZ won with set scores of 25-10, 22-25, 25-20, and 33-31. VU will end the year 13-11 overall and 8-10 in GSAC play, while OUAZ will go to the NAIA National Tournament with an overall record of 25-2 and 17-1 in the GSAC.
Set One
The first period was nothing to write home about for the Lions, as the team hit in the negatives and just cracked double digits. Cambria Fernandez (SR/Northridge, CA) got the first two kills for VU but the Spirit never faltered and took the set 25-10.
Set Two
Vanguard righted the ship in the next frame, taking a 5-2 advantage behind a couple more kills by Fernandez. Danielle Bellfi (SR/Murrieta, CA) then got in on the fun in her last game for Vanguard, as she netted three kills over the next few rallies to keep the Spirit at bay. Up 8-7, the Blue and Gold rattled off four straight, with Bellfi, Bailey Olbur (SO/Las Vegas, NV), and Fernandez each putting balls to the floor. The Lions then got the block going to run their lead up to 18-11 to force OUAZ into a timeout. VU then took the next two points before the Spirit recovered. The guests then made things interesting, going from down seven to deleting the gap, as OUAZ trailed 23-22 deep in the second set. With both timeouts gone, VU hunkered down and Fernandez took a quality set from Madeline DeLucia (SO/Happy Valley, OR) and threw it to the ground. An attack error then gave Vanguard the set 25-22, as the Lions hit .186, with 13 kills and five errors in the frame.
Set Three
The Spirit pulled out a 5-2 run early but a couple of errors drew the Lions back into it. Once more, a quick leap by OUAZ got their lead back to five, but Fernandez had something to say about it, as she produced two kills over a few rallies to help the Lions get back to almost level at 11-10. The Spirit then raced away to a 19-13 lead. Despite a couple of kills from Bellfi and one from Hailey Petersen (JR/Omaha, NE), the Lions could not muster the comeback and OUAZ took the third 25-20. VU hit .189, with 12 kills and five errors.
Set Four
Vanguard could have let the Spirit take the fourth so they could go celebrate the seniors outside, but the squad took it to the GSAC champs in the final set. The visitors' three straight attack errors and an ace from Fernandez got the team a 4-0 lead. It then blossomed off some more errors by the Spirit to an 8-1 lead. But then the Spirit settled and battled back, eventually tying the game at 13-all. The game then swung back and forth through the middle stages, with each side getting small leads only to have the other side storm back. OUAZ took some momentum as the teams closed in on the 20s, taking a 23-20 lead to force VU to take their second timeout. Coming out of the break, the Lions quickly put up a couple of points thanks to Fernandez and a couple more errors by OUAZ. Fernandez then slid in another ace to tie the game at 24-24. It would take plenty of rallies to finish the fourth off, as neither side could muster the decisive blow. VU ended up with two chances to put it away but could not force the match into the fifth set. They also fended off the Spirit four times with some great defensive play from the team, while getting kills from Petersen, Olbur, and Fernandez. But despite the scrappy fight from the Lions, the Spirit took the lead 32-31 and forced the Lions to commit an error to take the set 33-31 and the match three sets to one. VU had 11 kills and 11 errors in the final set.
As a team, VU hit .067 in the match, with 42 kills and 30 errors. Fernandez shined in her final game in the Pit, with 16 kills seven digs, two assists, and two aces. Bellfi had eight kills in her final game, tied with Petersen, and 15 digs. Rainena Schenbeck Chang (SR/Aiea, HI) had two digs in her last game, with Kynzey Mitzel (SR/Tigard, OR) posting 30 digs to lead the team in her final game. DeLucia had 28 assists to lead the lineup. Samantha Arellano (SR/Tulare, CA) ended her career with four kills, three digs, and two solo blocks.
What was said? "I am so proud of our team for the fight they put up today," said Head Coach Jennifer Dorn. "We fought hard and fought well as a response to our first set. A great weekend to end on, as well as a great tribute and honor to our five seniors."
