COSTA MESA – The Golden State Athletic Conference regular season champions returned home for the final time this season, as Vanguard women's volleyball took on Life Pacific Friday night.  The two sides engaged in a thrilling contest but the Blue and Gold kept the winning streak alive with a 3-1 victory, with set scores of 26-24, 25-15, 16-25, and 25-19.  The Lions improve to 22-1 overall and 12-0 in the GSAC, and the Warriors fall to 16-7 overall and 7-5 in conference play.

What Happened?  Before the action got started, the Lions honored both Natalie Escher and Callie Bickmore, as the two seniors were given plenty of love by all inside the OCC Gym.
 
VU got on the board in the first set thanks to a blocking error by LPU and the squad took its first lead of the match off another Warrior mistake.  Kills from Bailey Olbur and Bickmore helped the cause, but Life Pacific continued to get back in front, posting a 4-0 stretch to take a 9-6 lead.  Viktoria Dickson and Kayla Robinson helped the Lions to respond and equalize the game at 9-9 and the two teams would score almost equally through the middle part of the set.  A big shot by Morgan Cole put the Lions up 18-17 but LPU rattled off four unanswered points to snag a 21-18 edge.  However, Olbur and Dickson would once again rise up to send balls to the hardwood to cut the lead to 22-21, forcing the Warriors to take a timeout.  However, it could not halt the attack, as Bickmore posted a kill to tie the set at 23-all.  The highly talented Hannah Caddow put the Warriors back in in the lead, but Cole slammed down a kill to level things at 24-24.  Life Pacific would not score again, as the Lions would finish the set off with an ace from Escher and a block by Cole and Robinson to win 26-24.  VU hit .200 in the period and LPU hit at a .089 clip.
 
Set 2
The second period opened with the Lions in quite the groove, as the squad outscored the Warriors 12-6, with kills coming from across the lineup.  Bickmore recorded the first kill of the set for the Blue and Gold and the Lions got aces from Madeline DeLucia and Jenesis Rios as the lead grew.  The second half of the set was almost the same, with the Lions going on to win 25-15 on the back of a 13-9 stretch.  Adeline Galvanoni put down two kills during the run and Kate Phillips had a couple of good serves, including one ace in the second half of the period.  Back-to-back kills from Dickson and Cole ended the set, as Vanguard hit .389 in the frame, with 17 kills and three errors.  LPU was kept in check at a .000 mark.
 
Set 3
The Lions had gone six complete games without losing a set and had not lost in 20-straight frames since the Warriors took one set off the Lions out in San Dimas.  Yet history would repeat in the OCC Gym, as LPU swung for the fences.  The Warriors would outscore the Lions 11-6 to open the set before Vanguard called a timeout.  Life Pacific put up four points in a row out of the break, with VU having to call their second timeout.  The Lions narrowly outscored the Warriors 10-9 the rest of the way but the damage had been done and LPU took set three 25-16.  The Warriors had their best set offensively of the game, hitting at a .323 rate, with VU at .000
 
Set 4
Most of the fourth set was picturesque volleyball, with both sides swapping big kills and impressive digs.  Dickson got the first kill of the period but LPU answered with two quick points.  After that, it would be an even exchange, as the match would be tied 10 times until it was 13-12 VU.  Four straight points put the Warriors up 16-13 and VU had to take a timeout.  However, after returning to the floor, the Lions responded as needed and picked up three points off two LPU errors and a plop-shot kill by Escher to tie the match at 16-16.  Life Pacific took its first timeout, but the Lions smelled victory and would not let it go.  Including those three points, Vanguard closed out the set on a monster 12-3 run to win set four 25-19.  Rachel Lim put down an ace during the run and Dickson and Bickmore each added two tallies.  VU hit a match-best .393 and LPU was checked to a .171 clip.
 
The Lions had a .229 hitting percentage for the match and kept the Warriors to a .139 mark.  Vanguard had a 51-38 edge in digs, a slim 63-62 lead in digs, a 6-5 advantage in aces, and a larger 16-9 lead in blocks.  Dickson paced the Lions with 13 kills and hit .310 in the match, narrowly losing to Caddow who had a match-high 14 kills (but a .182 attacking rate).  Cole was second on VU with 11 kills and picked up a double-double with 12 digs, putting her second on the team for the night.  Olbur was third in kills with 10, as the middle hit .421 on the night.  Lim had 26 assists and DeLucia had 21 and each had two aces.  DeLucia picked up a double-double with 11 digs, good for third on the team.  Escher paced Vanguard with 17 digs.  On the block, Olbur and Robinson tied with four block assists, and Dickson, Bickmore, and Cole each had two.
 
Why is it Important?  The win streak goes to 20 games, and it is now four victories in a row over the Warriors.  The win by Vanguard hurts LPU, who drop to third in the standings behind Jessup and Menlo.
 
What was Said?  Said Coach Jennifer Dorn after the game, "Tonight was a great night of being tested.  We beat ourselves in set three and knew we had to reset.  The girls did a great job of turning their mentality around and gathering together as a team.  What a fun night to honor our seniors Callie and Natalie!"
 
What's Next?  The Arizona trip will close out the regular season for the Blue and Gold, who will first take on OUAZ on Friday, October 27, at 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time.