FULLERTON, Calif.  -- Vanguard women's volleyball completed their time at the Hope Summer Slam on Saturday with another pair of wins to conclude the event 4-0.  The Lions first took on the College of Idaho and won 3-1 (25-19, 25-12, 18-25, 25-22) before sweeping Doane (Neb.) 25-10, 25-14, and 26-24.  The Lions improve to 7-1, dropping  College of Idaho to 2-5 and Doane to 1-3.

What Happened?  
VU 3 Yotes 1
The closer of the two contests on the day for the Blue and Gold opened with a service ace for Rachel Lim, with Morgan Cole collecting the first kill of the day soon after.  The Lions took a 4-2 lead in the first period but were soon forced to call a timeout, as the Yotes pillaged their way to a 13-6 advantage.  The timeout seemed to galvanize the Lions, who clawed back with a 19-6 stretch to wrap up the first set 25-19.  Jenesis Rios and Lim chipped in aces along the away and both rows contributed kills.  The Yotes could not counter the run despite burning both timeouts.  Both teams had similar attack percentages in the first set, with VU hitting at a .097 mark and the Yotes at a .094 rate.

Vanguard continued to throw down in the second set, sprinting away with an 8-2 run right out of the gate, forcing College of Idaho to take its first timeout.  Cole, Viktoria Dickson, and Delaney Hill all put down kills during the hot streak.  The Yotes soon collected four points over five rallies but then struggled to find a way to stop the Blue and Gold.  Lim splashed down two aces as the Lions took a 10-6 lead and turned it into a 20-10 gap.  The Yotes scored only twice more down the stretch, with a block by Kayla Robinson giving VU set two 25-12.  The Lions hit a match-best .250, with 12 kills and four errors.  The Yotes hit -.083.

The third frame was muc less one-sided, with 10 ties occurring during the set.  The Yotes took an early lead but lost it on a kill by Callie Bickmore.  The Lions established a two-point edge but it would soon fall and the teams would ping-pong minor leads over the next few rallies.  Tied at 15-all, College of Idaho sprung for a 7-2 run to claim a 22-17 edge and the Yotes did not look back, taking set three 25-19.  VU hit -.053 in the frame.

However, the Lions got back to finding the hardwood in the fourth frame, setting a .200 attack percentage in the period.  The defense also looked smart, holding the Yotes to a -.027 clip.  Even though College of Idaho got out to a 4-1 lead, kills from Cole, Hill, and Bailey Olbur soon had the score knotted at 5-5.  Another quick burst from the Yotes got them ahead 12-7, but they would falter during the middle stages of the set.  Vanguard rolled off a 9-2 streak to net a 16-14 advantage, with Cole adding in three kills to her tally along the way.  VU would soon be up 20-17 but a timeout by the Yotes worked wonders, as College of Idaho slashed back to retake the lead at 21-20.  But they could not find an answer for Cole, who put down three kills over the final few rallies, helping the Lions to win 25-22.

The Lions hit .123 for the match and Cole led all players with 21 kills and collecting a double-double, as she registered 15 digs..  Hill was next with 10 kills in the match and Natalie Escher paced all players with 17 digs.  The Yotes hit .035 for the match, as the VU defense was able to frustrate College of Idaho all game long.  Robinson played a big role in that, as she was credited with two solo blocks and five block assists for the Blue and Gold.

VU 3 Doane 0
The good hitting carried on into the late afternoon match against the Tigers.  Dickson registered the first kill of the new match for the Lions, which tied the set at 2-2.  An ace from Dodge and a kill from Olbur helped VU to a 5-2 lead and from there, the rout was on.  The Lions outscored the Tigers 20-8 over the rest of the first set, never letting Doane recover for a second.  Dodge and Rios each had aces to support the run and Hill and threw down a couple more kills as well.  An ace from Escher sealed the 25-10 win in the first set, with VU hitting .280, with 10 kills and three errors.

The second set was a little more competitive at the start but soon fell in favor of the Blue and Gold.  Bickmore snapped down the first Lion kill of the set but Doane would work out a 6-4 lead.  Dickson made a big kill to tie the period at 6-6 and Hill would slam down another ball soon thereafter to tie things at 7-7.  After that, it was all VU.  A 13-1 run, including 10 straight points, silenced Doane in the second set.  Kate Phillips snagged the final kill of the frame to win the second 25-14.  VU hit .241, with 13 kills and six errors.  Doane followed up a -.059 rate in the first set with a -.138 effort in the second.

Facing elimination, the Tigers made a better impression in what would become the final period.  Doane held the lead for the majority of the set, with Vanguard taking a timeout down 14-10.  The break proved to be a good move, as kills from Cole and Hill allowed VU to jump ahead 15-14, but Doane would not roll over.  The Tigers retook the lead and went ahead 20-18, making a fourth set seem more likely.  Despite the push, Vanguard did not wobble and a kill from Adeline Galvanoni and a block from her and Olbur would put Vanguard ahead 22-20.  The Tigers would take a timeout down 23-21 and bounced back to tie the set at 23-all and then 24-all, but they never snuck ahead.  Another booming kill for Galvanoni and a rejection by Cole and Kylie Proctor allowed the Lions to complete the sweep with a 26-24 set win.  Vanguard hit .150 and Doane hit .026 in the third.

The Lions hit .213 as a team in the match and held Doane to a -.050 mark.  Hill topped the Lions with eight kills, with Galvanoni next with seven.  Escher again paced the field in digs, picking up 14 more against Doane.  Olbur led VU with five block assists, with Proctor and Galvanoni next with three apiece. 

What was Said?  "I am really proud of a 4-0 weekend," said Head Coach Jennifer Dorn.  "We are continuing to learn lessons along the way but I am excited to see some leaders starting to emerge in our offense.  Morgan Cole and Delaney Hill both had great weekends on the offensive side and Natalie Escher put on a great defensive display."

Why was it Important?  The Lions picked up their second-straight win against the Yotes, whom they last played and beat in 2018.  VU is now 4-2 against the Yotes all-time and 1-0 against Doane.  

What's Next? The Lions will return to the OCC gym for a home match against Westcliff on Thursday, August 31, at 7:15 p.m.