Box Score SAN MARCOS, Calif. -- Vanguard women's volleyball had scheduled two matches at the Saint Katherine Labor Day Tournament and opened Saturday with a match against Friends (Kansas). The Lions swept through the Falcons in straight sets but could not play match number two against Carroll (Mont.) because of court conditions inside the facility. The Lions improve to 10-1 overall and Friends falls to 2-8.
What Happened? The Falcons were never able to open up offensively and the Lions plowed through the first set, hitting at a .593 rate with 16 kills and zero errors on 27 attempts.
Viktoria Dickson generated the first kill of the match off a well-placed pass from
Rachel Lim. A couple of errors by the Falcons put the Blue and Gold up 3-0 and while the Falcons scored the next point, it would be all Vanguard after that. A big strike from
Morgan Cole started an 11-2 stretch that put the Lions up 14-3. The setters distributed the ball effectively and most of the hitters splashed down for kills as VU closed out the set 25-12. The Falcons hit .080 in the first.
The Lions stuffed Friends defensively in the second and while the offense dropped a tick, it did not disappoint.
Bailey Olbur and
Callie Bickmore got swinging early on, with Olbur putting down three kills and Bickmore two. Ahead 5-1, Friends kept pace for a little bit but
Kayla Robinson and
Kate Phillips pedaled Vanguard ahead. Robinson batted down two kills and Phillips picked up a kill and three aces as the Lions increased their advantage to 15-6. Olbur found pay dirt twice more towards the end of the set and an ace for
Natalie Escher handed the Lions set two 25-11. Vanguard hit .478, with 13 kills and two errors on 23 attempts. Friends had two kills and four errors on 19 attempts for a -.105 mark.
The Falcons did put up a small surge in the third but Friends never led in the frame. Bickmore got the scoring started and Robinson netted two more kills, as VU snagged a 5-3 edge early on. Dickson then slammed down two kills and some errors by the Falcons allowed Vanguard to grow to lead to 10-3. A 10-5 run then ensued, with
Delaney Hill and
Kylie Proctor garnering kills during the stretch. Ahead 20-8, the match was all but secure. The Falcons leveled up to close out the match on a 10-5 hot streak but Hill and Dickson recorded kills to give VU set three 25-18. The Lions hit .257 in the third and Friends hit at a .000 mark.
Friends also hit at a .000 rate for the entire match, while the Lions hit .424, with 44 kills and only eight errors on 85 attempts. With a chance for the whole lineup to chip in, the stats were pretty balanced offensively for Vanguard. Dickson paced the lineup with nine kills and Olbur was second with eight kills. Dickson posted only one error and Olbur went perfect with eight kills on 10 swings. Bickmore and Robinson were third with six kills apiece.
Madeline DeLucia had 17 assists, Lim had 15, and
Macy Kavanaugh had four. Escher had nine digs to lead the squad and Proctor had two block assists to lead VU.
What is Next? Vanguard will play Seattle Pacific on Tuesday night in an exhibition before starting Golden State Athletic Conference play at Hope International next Friday at 6:00 p.m. inside Darling Pavilion.
