COSTA MESA – A career-high tying 18 kills from junior Adeline Galvanoni sparked Vanguard women's volleyball to a highly entertaining 21-25, 25-23, 29-27, 25-22 PacWest victory over Biola in the Freed Center on Thursday evening.
The opposite delivered those 18 kills while swinging at an efficient .486 clip, with just one error in 35 attempts.
VU tucked away its first ever win in the Freed Center and improved to 5-4 overall and 2-3 in the PacWest. The Eagles dropped to 3-10 overall and 1-4 in league play.
The Lions scrapped and battled all night to prevail in some of the key longer rallies, helped along by 17 digs from libero Blair Dodge and 12 more by Morgan Cole.
Delaney Hill also provided some offense with 10 kills, and Kayla Robinson and Alister Borabo chipped in eight apiece. Robinson was active in the middle as she took a career-high 21 swings.
The Blue and Gold hit .178 overall, including a match-best .275 (19-5-51) in the pivotal third set in which the home team overcame a late four-point deficit. Setters Madeline DeLucia and Rachel Lim posted 29 and 17 assists, respectively.
Biola hit .170 for the match after a red hot start in the first set. Payton Tully had a team-best 13 kills and Emma Fairbairn added 10.
What Happened?
Set 1: Biola hit .393 (14-3-28) and utilized a big 9-0 run to roll to a 25-21 victory.
The Lions did well to overcome a 14-3 deficit, slicing their deficit to as little as one point late in the set.
Ashlyn Beebe knocked down four service aces during the punishing 9-0 stretch. The Eagles remained in control as Simi Kapustova's kill gave them an 18-12 lead. But the Lions scored four straight points – getting kills from Robinson, Payton Darm, Galvanoni and a Dodge ace – trimming the gap to 18-16.
VU trailed 22-21 and looked poised to complete an incredible comeback, but Biola pulled through with the final three points, getting a kill from Fairbairn for the win.
Set 2: The Lions tallied four of their seven service aces in the frame, and this time surmounted a late five-point deficit to take the tight 25-23 triumph.
Biola put together a pair of mini 4-0 runs to take leads of 9-5 and 13-9. Robinson's three straight kills and a Biola attack error narrowed the gap to 15-13. Remaining two points up at 16-14, Biola scored four of the next five points as the Lions teetered on set extinction down 20-15.
But a mammoth 8-2 run restored order to give the Blue and Gold a 23-22 advantage. The Lions sandwiched a pair of 4-0 runs of their own around back-to-back Biola points to wrestle the lead away. Robinson and Alister Borabo had a key assisted block on Tully during the stretch. Galvanoni also pounded a kill to tie the set at 22-22. Tully's wayward swing gave the Lions the one-point lead.
Tully redeemed herself with a kill to tie the score on the next play, but Galvanoni's fourth kill of the set and a Jenesis Rios ace clamped down the VU victory.
Set 3: A back-and-forth battle resulted in 20 ties and 13 lead changes, and the Lions erased a late four-point deficit to prevail 29-27.
It was a total group effort with six different Lions providing kills, led by six from Galvanoni, five from Hill, and three apiece by Cole and Robinson.
Cole's three kills came early as the Lions stayed even at 8-8.
The score remained tied at 16 apiece when the Eagles took control with a 5-1 run, Tully providing a pair of kills during the stretch.
However, the Lions answered with four straight points to knot the set at 21-21. Robinson and Galvanoni started the surge with an assisted roof on Fairbairn.
Four more ties took place to get the two teams to 25-25, when Kapustova's kill put Biola at set point. Hill tied the match with a kill – and a Biola attack error gave VU set point at 27-26.
Beebe responded as her kill tied the set for the last time at 27-27. Hill and Galvanoni collected back-to-back kills to finish out the victory.
Set 4: The Lions broke out to a 3-0 lead with momentum in hand, but the Eagles answered back to create a 4-4 tie. Biola eventually used an 8-3 run to lead 9-7.
Neither team led by more than two points until Vanguard used a 4-0 run to open up a 20-16 advantage. Biola pulled within a point on three occasions, but could not get over the hump. Leading 23-22, the Blue and Gold got a Borabo kill to reach match point, and an Eagle error sealed the match for the home team.
Biola hit .000 (10-10-40) in the fourth set, with the Lion defense holding the Eagles under .200 in each of the final three games.
What Was Said?: "Tonight was such a fun match," said Head Coach Jennifer Dorn. "We are learning how to stay consistent because in this conference too many errors are hard to recover from but we showed some incredible resilience from our girls tonight. Set 3 was a pivotal point in the match for us as we continued to build our momentum. A huge shoutout to Adeline Galvanoni tonight. She was unstoppable with 18 kills."
What's Next?: The Lions begin a stretch where seven of their next eight contests are on the road. They head to Azusa Pacific on Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. match.
