SURPRISE, Ariz. – The Golden State Athletic Conference Men's Volleyball regular-season championship trophy will remain in Costa Mesa!  The Vanguard Lions took on OUAZ on Friday night and in a hostile environment, VU made clutch plays down the stretch in the second and fourth sets to claim a 3-1 victory, with set scores of 25-22, 28-26, 18-25, 26-24.  Will Anderson (JR/Tualatin, OR) had 17 kills to pace the field and the Lions hit .346 in the match.  Vanguard claims the title and improves to 14-3 overall and a perfect 8-0 mark in the GSAC, with OUAZ dropping to 11-5 overall and 4-3 in GSAC action.  

What Happened?  While the Spirit got on the board first, Anderson immediately threw down his first kill in response.  Still, the Spirit took a 2-2 tie and rolled off four points in a row before a strike from Valesis Vaisuai (JR/Hayward, CA) got the Lions back on the board.  The Blue and Gold slowly worked at chopping down the lead, with blocks from Vaisuai and Ryan Smith (SR/Parker, CO) leveling the match at 9-all.  The Lions then made three straight points and kept that advantage through the middle stages of the opening frame until OUAZ made a run of their own to put the VU lead at 18-17.  However, a service error by the hosts and a kill by Smith put the Lions up 20-17. Kills from Kyle Anema (SR/La Mirada, CA) down the stretch kept Vanguard at an arm's distance from the Spirit and another slam from Vaisuia gave the Lions set one 25-22.  VU hit .333 in the first, with 13 kills and four errors, holding OUAZ to a .148 rate.

The second set remained relatively level until it was 11-11, when two-straight points for the Spirit gave the first real lead of the match to the home side.  OUAZ was able to expand that a little bit to 18-14 a few rallies later, but the Lions put up three unanswered points to sinch up the score to 18-17.  Another booming kill for Anderson would tie the set at 20-all and Cody Watts (SR/Clovis, CA) would put VU out in front with a thundering kill.  A timeout by the Spirit revived the hosts and both teams would exchange points until the set was level at 24-24.  Anema smacked down a kill to give the first set-point to the Lions but OUAZ threw down a kill in response.  Anema again was fed and he delivered a kill but the Spirit had another answer to tie things once more.  Watts then pounced for a kill and the Spirit made an error on the ensuing attack to give Vanguard set two 28-26.  The Lions hit at a scintillating .548 mark, with 20 kills and three errors, with OUAZ at .529.

OUAZ marched back in the third, opening the period with a 4-1 run before the VU lineup racked up tallies to equalize the score at 8-8.  The Spirit then found another good stretch to slowly roll out a four-point edge and the Blue and Gold would not catch up, falling 25-18.  OUAZ hit at a .429 mark and VU hit .160 for the period.

The fourth act opened with an Anema kill but despite an early 3-1 edge, the Spirit would flip the board and go ahead 9-6, with the Lions calling an early timeout.  Vaisuai would notch a kill right out of the timeout but OUAZ then sprinted away with a 3-0 run and would remain ahead by three points until the home side led 22-19.  A bad set cut the margin to 22-20 and Watts dished out an ace to trim the gap to one, forcing OUAZ to take a timeout.  Anema then blasted down a kill and Anderson followed with one of his own soon after to put the Blue and Gold ahead 24-23.  The Spirit took their second timeout and got a kill to tie things at 24-all, but a service error and a block from Anderson and Vaisuia gave VU the set 26-24, the match 3-1, and the regular-season trophy as well.

Anderson hit .400 in the match and Anema posted 13 kills to finish second on the team.  Vaisuia had 11 kills and a .500 hitting percentage to go along with one solo block and four block assists, both team highs.  Smith had 43 assists and he and Anema paced the field with nine digs apiece.  Despite losing the service ace battle 6-1, the Lions did hold a 35-29 edge in digs as a team.

Why is it Important?  This is the third year in a row that the Lions have claimed at least one GSAC trophy and the second time the team has won a title by beating OUAZ.  The Lions won the regular season last year in a reverse sweep of Menlo on the road.  The top-ranked team in the NAIA is now 5-1 against the Spirit all-time and has now won seven straight. 

What was Said?  "I'm not going to talk about any one individual," said Head Coach Brian Rofer.  "This was a complete team win.  It's so difficult to come into a gym after a travel day and another almost full day waiting to play and then compete.  It wasn't our best play tonight but it was great watching this team compete under frustration and pressure.  The venue is not the easiest place to play but our guys, all 12 players and our student support staff, encouraged each other throughout the match and now we can celebrate the win.  We have a few hours to enjoy it and then we have to focus on Arizona Christian."

What's Next?  The Lions will look to end the road trip with a win over the Firestorm, who the Lions will play at 1:00 p.m. tomorrow.