SANTA ANA, Calif. – Solid serving and blocking helped propel the Vanguard men's volleyball squad to a four-set triumph over No. 6 OUAZ on Saturday afternoon at Calvary Chapel High School.

Set scores were 25-11, 25-18, 24-26, 25-14.

The Lions improved to 9-3 overall and 5-0 in the Golden State Athletic Conference. The Spirit dropped to 7-3 and 3-2 in conference action.

Kyle Anema (SR/La Mirada, CA) and Tanner Woods (JR/Portland, OR) led the Lions with 11 kills. Cody Watts (SR/Clovis, CA) added eight kills, and Will Anderson (JR/Tualatin, OR) and Valesis Vaisuai (JR/Hayward, CA) provided seven apiece.

The Lions served up a season-high 11 aces, while OUAZ had just one. Anderson and Glen Linden III (JR/Newport Beach, CA) had three aces each.

VU owned a 10.0-5.0 advantage in blocks with Watts and Vaisuai leading the way with five stuffs apiece.

The Lions hit .348 for the match, the 10th time in 12 contests the team has exceeded .300. The Spirit hit just .062 overall.

Quaid King led OUAZ with 12 kills.

What Happened?

Set 1 – The Lions dominated the set, hitting .333 (8-4-12) and holding the Spirit to -.333 (3-9-18) efficiency.

VU jumped out to a 14-7 lead and gradually expanded it to double digits. Vaisuai and Anderson stuffed Emery Outin's attack to create a 19-9 lead. Outin got a kill to make it 20-11, but the Lions answered with five straight points for the 25-11 victory. Anderson's ace clinched the set.

Set 2 – The two teams were bunched together for a majority of the frame before Vanguard made a late push to clinch the 25-18 victory.

Vaisuai's kill opened up a 12-9 VU lead, but the Spirit answered with three straight points to tie the score at 12-12.

OUAZ's King and VU's Anema traded kills, and Anderson slammed one to the floor as VU took an 18-16 lead. That began an 8-2 run to end the set as VU pulled away. The Lions scored four straight to get to set point at 24-17, and Woods clinched the win with a kill.

Set 3 – With the Lions sniffing a sweep, the Spirit had other ideas as they flipped the script and utilized a late run to victory.

The Lions looked solid at first, breaking out to a 7-3 lead on a double block from Watts and Woods. The Spirit scored four straight though to knot things at 7-7.

With the score tied 10-10, three straight OUAZ attack errors gave VU the three-point lead. The Lions maintained that edge up to 23-20 when a pair of VU errors narrowed the gap to one.

Watts slammed a kill to give the Lions match points, but OUAZ reeled off four straight to steal the 26-24 win. A kill from Blake Music, a OUAZ service ace and two VU attack errors sealed the deal for the Spirit.

The Lions hit a match-low .194 (13-7-31) for the set while OUAZ had a .269 (13-6-26) effort.

Set 4 – It looked like another tight battle early on as the teams were tied at 6-6. But the Lions took control with a 8-1 run, helped by two Anderson kills.

Leading 16-8, the Lions surrendered a couple of points to allow OUAZ within six. But a 4-0 VU run all but put an end to any OUAZ comeback. Linden III culminated the run with two straight aces as VU led 20-10.

The Lions breezed to the 25-14 win, hitting a match-best .471 (10-2-17) and limiting OUAZ to .000 (8-8-18).

Why Is It Important?: The Lions have beaten three ranked GSAC opponents in No. 1 The Master's, No. 2 Menlo and No. 6 OUAZ as they hit the midpoint of the conference schedule.

What's Next?: The Lions travel to Hope International next Wednesday for a 6:00 p.m. match.