SURPRISE, Ariz. – The Vanguard Lions continued their week in Arizona with the women's volleyball team taking on the OUAZ Spirit Friday night. The Blue and Gold dominated the reverse fixture, sweeping the season series with a 25-19, 25-12, 25-12 victory on the road.
Bailey Olbur led all players with 11 kills on a near-perfect night, as she posted no errors on 12 attempts for a .917 hitting percentage, easily a career-best on more than two or three attempts. The Lions improve to 23-1 overall and 13-0 in the Golden State Athletic Conference, dropping the Spirit to 14-12, 5-8.
What Happened? The opening set saw the Lions run out a 5-0 lead to begin the contest, with
Callie Bickmore landing two kills and Olbur one. OUAZ burned a quick timeout and slowly reeled VU in, chopping the lead down to 9-8. The Lions took a timeout and
Viktoria Dickson pounced for a kill, followed by another Olbur strike, to put Vanguard ahead 11-8. Soon ahead 12-10, the Lions assembled a 7-2 stretch to really put the home side in a bind, with
Blair Dodge dropping in an ace and
Morgan Cole swatting down a kill. The Spirit responded adequately, sliming the lead to 19-16, but that would be as close as they got. Bickmore and
Adeline Galvanoni threw down kills to increase the lead to 22-16 and some OUAZ errors allowed the Lions to take set one 25-19. OUAZ hit .000 in the period and the Lions mustered a .135 rate.
Set 2
After the first set, the ingress to green pastures was left wide open for the Blue and Gold and they surged through, hitting .577 in the middle period with 16 kills and one error on 26 attempts. Olbur tallied the first kill and soon added another, with
Kayla Robinson spiking down a ball to take the advantage to 3-2. The Spirit continued to make some mistakes, putting VU up 9-5, and the Lions decided to put the home side in the rearview mirror. High-quality passing led to an 11-5 run to push the gap to 20-10, with Cole and Robinson banking kills and
Natalie Escher sliding in an ace during the streak. Galvanoni slapped down three of the final four kills as the Lions grabbed set two 25-12 while holding OUAZ to a .095 attack percentage.
Set 3
The pedal was already down but the Lions did not let up in the third, stifling the Spirit to a .000 attack rate in what became the final set. Hitting at a .484 mark themselves, the Blue and Gold would get on the board thanks to a blistering shot from Bickmore, which helped the squad tie the set at 3-3. Bickmore and Olbur then made a big block and an error by OUAZ put VU ahead for good. Another strike from Olbur and an ace from Dodge made it 6-3 and though OUAZ called a timeout, it did not help the Spirit's cause. Cole helped the Lions establish a 10-5 edge and Vanguard rattled off a 10-5 run from there to snag a 20-10 lead.
Madeline DeLucia joined the fun with a kill, Galvanoni had three kills in a row during the stretch, and Olbur netted four kills at the end of the run. Bickmore and Olbur would each add one more kill from there and
Kylie Proctor stood tall for a solo block towards the end of the set, as VU cruised to a 25-12 win and a sweep of the match.
VU hit at a .372 rate on the night, held OUAZ to a .022 mark, and easily had an edge in every team statistic. Bickmore was very efficient Friday night, with 10 kills and two errors on 19 attempts for a .421 hitting percentage. Cole had 10 kills and 11 digs for her 11th double-double of the season and Galvanoni had seven kills and no errors on 19 attempts for a .389 hitting percentage.
Rachel Lim led the Lions with 24 assists, with DeLucia second with 13. Escher paced the field with 13 digs and Dodge had 10 to end third on the squad. Olbur also led all players with five block assists, with Cole next with three.
Why is it Important? The Lions have now won two-straight games in Surprise and now have won three of the past four matchups against OUAZ. VU also sweeps the series for the first time since 2019.
What is Next? The Lions will get some rest tonight and wake up to face Arizona Christian tomorrow at 2:00 p.m.
