EL CAJON, Calif. – The Vanguard women's volleyball team entered the night in the middle of the Golden State Athletic Conference standings before starting Saturday's conference match against San Diego Christian. While the Hawks have had recent success against the Lions, it took a little over an hour for VU to sweep the Hawks 25-21, 25-14, and 25-15. The Lions improve to 12-5 overall and 2-1 in conference play, while the Hawks fall to 1-6 overall and 0-3 in GSAC action.
What Happened?
The first rally of the night saw Callie Bickmore (JR/Auburn, CA) take a feed from Madeline DeLucia (JR/Happy Valley, OR) and put the ball to the floor to get the Lions on the scoreboard first. Hailey Petersen (SR/Omaha, NE) doubled the lead but the Hawks swooped in for three straight points to spoil the early advantage. The two squads were even through the opening stages of the first set but the Lions then hurried away to a four-point lead, with kills coming from Petersen, DeLucia, Bickmore, and Morgan Cole (FR/Bakersfield, CA). Ahead 14-10, VU gladly took some attacking mistakes from SDCC to push the lead to 20-14. But the Hawks still had something to say in the period, as the hosts flew in with a 6-2 run to close the gap to 22-20. However, the Lions were not duped into giving up, as VU gave up only one more point in the set. Ahead 24-21, Cole snapped a ball to the floor to give Vanguard set one 25-21, as the Lions hit .152 in the set. SDCC hit .043.
The Lions got off to a better start in the second frame, as Bickmore again got the team on the board first. But this time, Vanguard kept a tight grip on the score, roaring ahead to a 5-2 edge, as Bickmore and Cambria Fernandez (SR/Northridge, CA) each put down kills. Payton Darm (SO/San Juan Capistrano, CA) put the Lions ahead 7-4 and her kill started another VU hot streak. Delaney Hill (FR/Foothill Ranch, CA), Viktoria Dickson (FR/Chula Vista, CA), and Fernandez all smacked down kills to push the lead to 12-6. Natalie Escher (SR/Redlands, CA) then had a party from the service line, dishing out three straight aces to put the Blue and Gold ahead 17-7. The Hawks put a few points on the board late in the set but the Lions would get the set 25-14 off a service error by SDCC. The Lions hit .391 in the second, with 13 kills and four errors. The Hawks hit .120 in the second.
The Lions got the first point again to start the third frame and Fernandez got the first VU kill of the third to put the squad ahead 2-1. The Hawks recovered some of their fortitude in the third, as the two sides walked the score up until it was 11-11. From there though, it would be all Vanguard, as VU would outscore the Hawks 14-4 the rest of the way. Darm picked up another kill and Bickmore tallied a couple of strikes as well, as SDCC hurt themselves with some errors to hamper their effort as the frame moved along. A bad set and an attack error by the Hawks gave Vanguard the third set 25-15 to complete the sweep. The Lions hit .222 in the third while the Hawks hit -.194.
For the match, VU hit at a .229 clip, tallying 36 kills and 14 errors on 96 attempts. The Lions held an edge in every major statistical category, highlighted by five aces and 12 block assists. Petersen paced the lineup with eight kills, pairing that with no errors and three block assists. Bickmore and Fernandez were each second with six kills, and three other players recorded four kills. DeLucia had 18 assists and Rachel Lim (SO/La Palma, CA) had 12. Blair Dodge (SO/Aliso Viejo, CA) had 15 digs to lead the way, with Dickson next with nine.
What was Said? "I am so proud of how we took control of the match and won in three (sets)," said Delaney Hill.
Why is it Important? VU gets a revenge win against SDCC, who took both matches last year and had won five of the past six meetings. Vanguard is now 41-15 all-time against the Hawks. VU also moves into a tie for second in the standings with Westmont at 2-1 in conference play.
What's Next? The Blue and Gold will be home for the next GSAC game on Tuesday, September 20, at 7:00 p.m. The Lions will welcome the Warriors of Life Pacific, who just took a five-set loss to Menlo but are 3-1 in the standings, sitting first overall in the conference after Saturday's action. The game will be at Calvary Chapel High School.
