FULLERTON, Calif. -- Back at the Darling Pavilion for the second game of the day, the Vanguard women's volleyball team squared off against the #23 team in the NAIA, the Rams of Texas Wesleyan. Facing its third ranked team of the year, VU did not stutter and collected its first sweep of the season, winning 25-20, 25-18, and 25-16. The Lions improve to 6-1 on the season and the Rams fall to 3-3.
What Happened? The opening set began with a kill from
Callie Bickmore to get the Lions on the board first. The Rams grabbed the next point but VU then struck for seven straight points on the scoreboard, with
Natalie Escher capping the run with an ace. Texas Wesleyan called a timeout and responded nicely with an 8-1 stretch of their own to claim a 9-8 lead. The two sides walked the score up to a 12-12 tie and Vanguard then opened up a little breathing space with a 5-0 streak, with
Rachel Lim dishing out two aces during that stretch. The Rams almost caught up again, cutting the lead to one point at 18-17, but that would be as close as it got.
Morgan Cole threw down four kills and an ace over the final nine rallies to help the Lions take set one 25-20. VU hit .139 in the first and the Rams hit .056.
The second set saw the Rams strike for the first few points but kills from
Bailey Olbur and
Kayla Robinson helped VU to eventually level the score at 4-4. Once again, a quick downpour of points from the Blue and Gold helped to create some separation, with Cole snagging a kill and an ace to help put VU ahead 9-5. The advantage remained steady at around five points until the Lions were ahead 15-10 and the squad found a new groove. Escher started and ended the 6-0 run with an ace, with Cole and Robinson each splashing down for two kills during that spell. The Rams regained a few points towards the end of the frame but Vanguard went on to win set two 25-18.
The Lions pulled together another run to open the third, streaking ahead 5-1 on the back of two kills from Bickmore and an ace for
Blair Dodge. The Rams cobbled together a similar stretch to knot the score at five-all before pulling away to a two-point lead at 10-8. Undeterred, VU roared back with seven unanswered points, with
Delaney Hill and Cole collecting kills and
Jenesis Rios dropping in two aces. The Rams called a timeout trailing 15-10 but they could change their fortunes much, as the two sides walked the score upwards until VU was ahead 20-15. From there, kills from Robinson and Hill, along with an ace from Cole, helped to secure the set for the Lions 25-16 and complete the sweep. The Blue and Gold hit at a torrential .357 rate in the final frame, with 15 kills and only five errors on 28 attempts. The defense held the Rams to a .043 mark.
The Lions hit .165 for the match and held Texas Wesleyan to a -.021 rate. VU won every major team category, highlighted by a 14-7 lead in aces and a 50-38 advantage in digs. Cole paced the field with 15 kills and hit .273 for the match. Bickmore was up next with seven kills and Olbur had five. Lim had 13 assists and
Madeline DeLucia had nine.
Natalie Escher had 15 digs to lead all players, with Cole next up with eight. Robinson had five block assists to pace the Vanguard lineup.
What was Said? "Great to get two dubs today, even though we fought through some sloppy play on our side," said Head Coach
Jennifer Dorn. "We are still trying to get our rhythm but all the pieces are there."
What's Next? VU will take on the College of Idaho tomorrow at HIU at noon, with a second match against Doane (Neb.) set for 4:00 p.m.
