COSTA MESA  -- What could have been a thrilling rematch of the 2023 NAIA National Tournament Championship contest turned into a statement victory by Vanguard men's volleyball on Saturday. The #3 Lions squared off against #4 Benedictine Mesa and VU pulled out the brooms again, winning 25-19, 25-12, 25-18.  Both Will Anderson and Andrew Sheveland tallied 10 kills apiece and Anderson had four service aces, as the Lions had a 10-4 advantage in aces as a team.  The Blue and Gold improve to 3-0 on the season and have yet to drop a set, as the Redhawks fall to 1-4.
 
What Happened?  The opening period started off dangerously for the Lions, who quickly found themselves trailing 6-0.  A service error finally got VU off the blocks and while it took a few rallies, the home side deleted a 7-1 hole, running off four straight points to knot the set score at 10-10.  Reza Tahmasebi, Glen Linden III, Anderson, and Sheveland all contributed kills during the run, with the Redhawks calling a timeout to try to stem the attack.  While BenU retook the lead at 12-11, it would not last for long, as two errors gave the Lions a lead at 14-12, and the squad did not look back.  The errors mounted for the Redhawks, as the Lions grew their advantage to 18-14 over the next few rallies.  Three unanswered points for BenU brought the guests back to within one at 18-17, but the Blue and Gold zipped away with seven of the final nine points of the period to take set one 25-19.  VU hit .400 in the period, with 11 kills and three errors.  BenU was kept in check with a .000 hitting percentage in the first.
 
Set Two
Vanguard was decisive in the middle frame, hitting .579, with 13 kills and only two errors on 19 attempts.  The lineup surged ahead 5-1, with Micah Sybesma and Sheveland dropping in kills, along with an ace from Sheveland.  The Redhawks found their footing for a short time, closing the gap down to 9-7, but Vanguard went on a 7-2 run in reply.  Sybesma and Sheveland each got kills and Andreson rocketed down a pair of strikes to put the Lions up 17-10.  The Redhawks scored only three more times in the period, as VU closed out the set on a 8-1 stretch.  Anderson racked up a kill and an ace during the hot streak, and back-to-back aces by Tahmasebi closed out the frame to give Vanguard the set 25-12.  BenU hit .143 on 14 attempts in the second set.
 
Set Three
The third saw a more inspired effort from the Redhawks, as they again took an early lead, but kills by Sybesma and Anderson kept VU close.  Down 5-3, consecutive strikes by Linden III and another strong kill by Sheveland put the Lions ahead 6-5.  BenU tied the score on the next rally but the Lions rolled off three unanswered points to force the Redhawks to take a timeout.  The pause did not help the visitors, as Sheveland threw down another kill and two BenU errors extended the Vanguard run to six-straight.  Ahead 13-7, the VU advantage remained around seven points the rest of the way.  Even though the Redhawks made a late sortie to close the score down to 22-17, two kills from Anderson and one from Sheveland handed the Lions set three 25-18.  VU hit .524 in the final set, with 13 kills and two errors on 21 attempts.  BenU hit .167.
 
For the match, VU hit .500 and kept the Redhawks to a .092 rate.  VU also had a 20-14 edge in digs and an 11-5 edge in total blocks.  Anderson was almost perfect hitting the ball, netting a .692 attack percentage, as he had only one error on 13 attempts.  He was also second on the squad with six digs.  Sheveland hit .364 and Tahmasebi and Sybesma had five kills each.  Linden II had six kills in the match.  Ryan Smith had 27 assists and paced VU with four block assists.  Tahmasebi led the Lions with nine digs and he and Linden III had two aces each.
 
 
Why is it Important?  That is now two wins in a row against BenU for Vanguard and the team is now 5-7 all-time against the Redhawks.  The win now sets up a big week of Golden State Athletic Conference action, as a clash with #1 The Master's looms a week from today.
 
What was Said?  "We had a bit of a rocky start," stated Head Coach Brian Rofer.  "But overall, we had a good, solid match.  Ryan's set distribution continues to improve, and it shows in our overall hitting percentage.  I couldn't be happier with our production at the service line, and all of our players continue to improve at executing Coach Valleyly's game plans."
 
What's Next?  While the TMU match looms, VU cannot slip up in a GSAC road tilt at Hope International, which will be played on Wednesday, February 21, at 6:00 p.m.