Box Score SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The #7 Vanguard Lions played away from the friendly confines of Bill and Shirley Reynolds Court for the first time since March 7, 2020 when they were in Arizona. Being hosted by the University of Saint Katherine, the Lions took care of business in straight sets 25-17,25-22,25-18.
What Happened? The Blue and Gold took the first set by a eight point margin thanks to four more kills and a .304 hitting percentage compared to only .238 for USK. Initially, they were trailing by a score of 3-0 but once they took the lead at 9-8, they never looked back. In the second frame, the contest was back and forth for its entirety with the contest never being more than four points a part. Although it was narrow, the Firebirds had the lead up until a 13-13 tie on a kill by Filippo Meoni (FR/Macerata, Italy). Vanguard closed out the set and the match with back-to-back blocks by Glen Linden (FR/Newport Beach, CA) and Matthew Roussin (JR/Anaheim Hills, CA). The final two sets were identical for the Lions with 14 kills, four errors, and a .417 attacking rate.
Why Its Important? This marks the final matchup of the season against the Firebirds and the Lions will now turn towards conference play. Vanguard is now 3-0 all-time against Saint Katherine and the Pride has swept them each time. Ten of the programs 12 victories have come in only three sets and they have only been swept twice – both by Division I or II opponents.
Notable Performances: Offensively, Kyle Anema (JR/La Mirada, CA) recorded a match high 15 kills on 25 total attempts while Meono added nine and Cody Watts (SO/Clovis, CA) tacked on six. Bryce Thompson (JR/Los Alamitos, CA) handed out 32 of the Pride's 37 assists on the night. Cameron Way (JR/Dana Point, CA) totalled seven digs, a high for both teams, with Roussin just behind with six of his own. Meoni, Roussin, and Christian Nowtash (JR/Vista, CA) combined for seven block assists.
What They Said: Head Coach Brad Rostratter – "It was great experience for us to get into a new environment as a group. We learned that we can rely on our serving when other parts of our game aren't firing. Finding ways and solutions when we aren't at are best is a quality we pride ourselves on as a program and tonight we demonstrated that quality."
What's Next: Wednesday, February 10th against the Hope International University at 7:00 p.m.
#ClawsUp
