SURPRISE, Ariz. – The Vanguard men's volleyball team closed out its Arizona swing with a loss to No. 6 OUAZ on Saturday afternoon at Faith Arena. Set scores were 18-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-21.

The Lions lost their first match in Golden State Athletic Conference play, falling to 9-4 overall and 4-1 in league. The Spirit moved to 16-1 overall and remained undefeated in the GSAC at 5-0.

What Happened?: Matthew Roussin (SR/Anaheim Hills, CA) led the Lions with 15 kills and hit. 345, while Kyle Anema (SR/La Mirada, CA) had 12 kills. Bryce Thompson (SR/Los Alamitos, CA) handed out 44 assists as Vanguard hit .306 for the match. Cameron Way (SR/Dana Point, CA) had a team-high eight digs.

The Lions struggled from the service line with just one ace and 17 errors. OUAZ did as well with 22 service errors. However, OUAZ had more kills (56-48), assists (53-46) and aces (4-1).

OUAZ hit .322 for the match, led by 17 kills from Emery Outin and 13 from Jordan Moses.

Set 1

The Lions went on a 9-4 run to lead 12-7 and force an OUAZ timeout. The Spirit came out of the timeout with a kill by Colin Donisthorpe, but the Lions continued to apply pressure with four straight points and led 16-8.

Vanguard coasted to the 25-18 victory as Roussin had six kills. The Spirit also tallied six service errors in the set.

Set 2

OUAZ flipped the script, turning a 4-4 tie into a four-point lead as a series of Lion errors helped create the 9-5 cushion.

The Lions battled back to a 10-8 deficit as Thompson and Glen Linden (SO/Newport Beach, CA) teamed up to block Moses. Vanguard narrowed the deficit to 14-13 on another OUAZ service error.

OUAZ blocked Roussin and got two kills from Conner Duyck to pull back ahead 17-13 after a 3-0 run. But the Lions took their first lead since 4-3 after going on a 5-0 spurt. OUAZ helped the cause with a service error and three attack errors as VU led 18-17. Valesis Vaisuai (SO/Hayward, CA) had a solo block on Tyler Gardenhire during the run.

The teams were tied at 20-20 when OUAZ scored the final five points of the set to win 25-20. Outin had two kills and Moses another to tie the match at a set apiece.

Set 3

The second set letdown carried over into set three as Vanguard landed in a 10-4 hole. The Lions trailed 14-7 but utilized a 6-1 run to climb back in, carving the Spirit lead to 15-13. Roussin helped steer the comeback with three kills.

Moses pounded a pair of kills to open up a 23-18 lead and things looked bleak for the Lions. However, VU scored five of the next six points and trailed 24-23. Cody Watts (JR/Clovis, CA) had a kill and combined with Roussin on a block to put the Lions back in position to win the set.

But Outin put the ball away on set point as OUAZ won 25-23 and took a 2-1 lead in the contest.

Set 4

The teams went back and forth with six ties, but the Lions scratched out a 7-5 lead. That lead was short-lived as the Spirit went on a 5-0 run to go up 10-7. Back VU came, scoring three straight points to knot things up at 10-10.

Both teams traded points to get to 13-13 when OUAZ went on a crucial 5-1 run and led 18-14. Duyck and Gardenhire notched kills as OUAZ looked to finish the match.

VU could only get as close as three points, the last time at 24-21 on a kill from Anema. But Outin capped the match with his 17th kill.

Why Is It Important?: The Lions fell into second place in the GSAC standings after the loss. The regular season champion gets to host the GSAC Tournament in early April.

What's Next?: Vanguard travels to USC on Friday, March 11 at 7:00 p.m.