COSTA MESA, Calif. - The fifth-ranked Vanguard Lions (3-2) took on the eighth-ranked Benedictine University at Mesa (3-0) for a Sunday matinee that was extraordinarily intense as would be expected between a battle of the teams ranked in the top 10 nationally. The Pride wasn't able to get the monkey off their backs as they fell to 0-4 all-time against the Redhawks, this time in five sets by a score of 17-25, 26-24, 19-25, 25-20, 21-23.

What Happened? The first set featured seven early ties before the Redhawks took control, building a five-point lead, then pushing it to eight to take the first set 25-17.After hitting. 429 in the first set, the Redhawks struggled to open the second, hitting -.062, and the Lions took advantage to build a slight lead. With a 21-18 lead late in the set, BENU drew back within one, but a violent kill by Kyle Anema and a service ace by Filippo Meoni would give the Pride the set, to tie things up at one set apiece.

After going down four points early in the third set, the Pride fought back to tie things up at 13. Unfortunately, the Lions couldn't get going on offense as they only recorded eight kills in 26 attempts and the Redhawks took advantage of a handful of errors to head to the third set up 2-1. The Lions started off the fourth set with a 10-2 run as they converted five of their first ten attacking attempts into points. Matthew Roussin tacked on a couple of kills and Cody Watts rose up for a massive block to keep the momentum going strong for the Blue and Gold. 

Not about to go quietly, BENU would draw back within three with a 6-2 run of their own that was capped off by consecutive attacking errors by the Redhawks. The Blue and Gold were able to hold off the comeback as a kill by Roussin and a service ace would force a deciding fifth set at Bill & Shirley Reynolds Court.

Two attacking errors and a service ace by Kyle Anema would give the Lions an early 5-1 advantage to open up the fifth and final set. Once again the visitors would show their resilience as they would flip the script, putting together a 10-4 run to go up 12-9, forcing Head Coach Brad Rostratter to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, the Lions would score three straight points to tie the game, and away we went! Back and forth these two teams went as they combined for eight lead changes before the grueling battle came to a close with a service ace and a kill. 

Why It's Important? The Lions were able to force a fifth set for the first time against the Redhawks as all of their previous meetings had only gone four sets. After one game against the Master's University, the Lions will face off against another ranked opponent in Hope University for six straight contests. 

Top Performers: Kyle Anema led the Pride with 21 kills to go with two service aces and six digs, while Matthew Roussin would also hit the double-digit mark in kills with 13 to go with seven digs and three block assists. Bryce Thompson dished out 47 assists and Cameron Way would record 17 digs to round things out for the Blue and Gold.

What's Next: Monday, February 15th at home against the Master's University at 7:00 p.m.

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