SAN DIMAS, Calif. - The Vanguard Lions Women's Volleyball team (3-1) kept the trend of all of their victories in the 2020-2021 campaign coming in five sets as they earned a five-set victory over Life Pacific University (2-3) by a score of 25-23, 15-25, 25-17, 23-25, 16-14. Madeline DeLucia (FR/Happy Valley, OR) dished out a game-high 53 assists, falling just six assists short of a top-ten mark on the all-time list at Vanguard.
What Happened? Neither team was able to create much separation early on as the first set featured nine ties and six lead changes. Danielle Bellfi (JR/Murrieta, CA) would come in clutch for the Pride late in the set as her two late kills sealed the first set in favor of the Pride. Life Pacific would rebound in the second set as they jumped out to an early lead and never relinquished it to even things up at one.
The Lions would flip the script in the third set as they recorded their second-best hitting percentage of the contest while holding the Warriors to their worst hitting percentage. With their backs to the wall, however, LPU would hold off a late push by the Lions to force a decisive fifth set. Cambria Fernandez (JR/Northridge, CA) and Mallorie Post (SR/Federal Way, WA) would pace the Pride in the fifth set, while Tayler Templeman (JR/Puyallup, WA) would find the floor in some clutch situations as well. Late errors would doom the Warriors and the Lions were able to move to 3-1 on the year in dramatic fashion once again.
Why It's Important? The Lions were able to stay perfect all-time against LPU as they moved to 7-0. The Lions were 4-4 last year in games that went to five sets and 5-4 the year before that.
Top Performers: Cambria Fernandez went for a season-high 21 kills to go with 14 digs and a block assist while Madeline DeLucia dished out a game-high 53 assists, falling just six assists short of a top-ten mark on the all-time list at Vanguard. Rainena Schenbeck Chang (SR/Aiea, HI) had a team-high 21 digs on the evening to round things out for the Blue and Gold.
What They Said: "We are really excited about our learning curve these past few weeks," said Head Coach JP Dorn. "After a week and a half in the practice gym, we are proud of how we are continuing to form as a team. We showed great determination tonight and of course excited about taking the win."
What's Next: Thursday, February 16th at (4) Westmont College at 7:00 p.m.
#ClawsUp
