SURPRISE, Ariz. – Vanguard saw its four-match winning streak come to an end at Faith Arena as Jessup defeated the Lions in four sets in the semifinals of the Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament on Friday night.
Set scores went 25-19, 24-26, 25-13, 27-25 as the No. 2 seed Warriors improved to 16-9 and advanced to Saturday's tournament championship against top-seeded Westmont. The No. 3 seed Lions fell to 23-11.
Hailey Petersen (SR/Omaha, NE) led the Lions, hitting .391 with 13 kills and three block assists. Morgan Cole (FR/Bakersfield, CA) added 11 kills and 12 digs for her 12th double-double of the season. Cambria Fernandez (SR/Northridge, CA) chipped in nine kills to go along with 15 digs.
Madeline DeLucia (JR/Happy Valley, OR) also had a double-double with 25 assists and 13 digs. Blair Dodge (SO/Aliso Viejo, CA) led the Lions with 21 digs, her eighth match with 20 or more.
The Warriors hit .204 for the match, led by Marina Gonzalez with 17 kills and Madalyn Miller's 14. The Lions hit .132.
VU, which averaged nearly 10 service aces during its four-match win streak, managed just two against William Jessup.
What Happened?: The Lions trailed 8-7 in set one, but the Warriors used a 6-1 run to open up a 14-8 lead. The Lions nibbled at the deficit with four straight points to close within 14-12, and trailed 18-16 following a Rachel Lim (SO/La Palma, CA) service ace. VU cut the lead to one on two occasions – 18-17 and 19-18 – but stalled as the Warriors sprinted away on a 5-0 run. WJU was helped by kills from Mata Iupeli, Gonzalez and Paulina Harris.
Trailing 24-18, Delaney Hill (FR/Foothill Ranch, CA) staved off one set point, but a Gonzalez smash sealed the 25-19 set one victory. VU hit .048 in set one while WJU swung at a .176 clip.
Petersen took control for VU with six kills in set two as VU scratched out a 26-24 win. The two teams exchanged points early on and were deadlocked at 4-4. With VU leading 7-6, three Petersen kills and a DeLucia ace completed a 4-0 run as the cushion expanded to 11-6. The Lions reeled off three more points to stretch the lead to 15-8.
The Warriors chipped away and a 7-2 run narrowed the gap to 17-15 on a Madison Marlow ace. VU appeared headed for victory leading 21-17, but three VU attack errors and two Gonzalez kills capped a 5-0 run for the Warriors.
Trailing 22-21, VU battled back with three straight points – kills from Fernandez and Callie Bickmore (JR/Auburn, CA) sandwiched around a Gonzalez attack error. But Jessup fought off two set points on kills from Taylor Tarble and Miller. The Lions buckled down though as Petersen and Payton Darm (SO/San Juan Capistrano, CA) registered back-to-back kills to polish off set two.
VU hit .171 in the second set while WJU countered at .163.
It was all Warriors in the third set as they hit a match-high .344 and held VU to .061 efficiency. They jumped out to an 11-3 lead. Adeline Galvanoni (FR/Chandler, AZ) and Darm roofed Gonzalez on a combo block to get VU within 12-5, but an 8-1 Warrior run opened up a 20-6 bulge. Lim was at the service line to help VU score four straight points, getting to 24-13, but a service error on the next play gave WJU the 25-13 victory.
Set four demonstrated VU's never-say-die attitude that it has displayed all season, but the Warriors had the final say in an exchange of runs. WJU continued the momentum from set three to open up a 5-2 lead. But the Lions got two straight kills from Cole to tie the score at 6-6. The Warriors used a Tarble solo block to create a 13-9 advantage, but the Lions fought back with a 5-1 run to knot the score at 14-14. Petersen, Darm and Galvanoni all contributed kills to get the Lions even.
WJU answered with three straight points to go back up 17-14, and the Lions trailed 20-16 following an attack error. But the Lions had no quit and eventually tied the score again at 21-21 with Bickmore and Petersen getting a huge block on Gonzalez.
After tie scores at 22-all and 23-all, VU reached set point on Cole's fifth kill of the frame. Miller responded with a kill to forge a 24-24 tie, and registered another kill on the next point to give the Warriors match point.
Miller hit the ball out of bounds on the next play as VU tied the score again at 25-25. But Miller and Harris had back-to-back kills on the final two points to scrape out the 27-25 victory.
Fernandez played solidly with five of her nine kills in the fourth set.
Why Is It Important?: The Lions lost out on a chance to earn the GSAC's second automatic bid to the NAIA Tournament, which would have been the case had they reached the conference tournament title match.
What Was Said?: "Tonight was going to be a battle and we wanted to leave it on the court," said Head Coach Jennifer Dorn. "We brought heart and competed to the last point. We made some strategic decisions that the girls executed well late in the game, and I couldn't ask for a better group of women to accomplish what we have this season. I'm so proud of this team. Our future is bright and I look forward to how this season will give us confidence and experience moving forward. A massive shoutout to our seniors – Chandler, Maggie, Cam and Victoria. We will miss them greatly and I'm so proud of the culture they fought for."
