GLENDALE, Ariz. – The second-ranked Vanguard men's volleyball team hit .447 in a 25-14, 25-20, 25-14 road sweep of Arizona Christian on Friday at the Firestorm Rec Center.
The Lions tallied 43 kills with just nine errors in 76 attempts. Will Anderson had a match-high 12 kills on .333 hitting, while Andrew Sheveland tallied nine kills to go along with six digs.
Micah Sybesma and Glen Linden III both hit over .700, combining for 12 kills on 16 errorless swings. Sybesma hit .778 (7-0-9) with three service aces and three blocks, while Linden III swung at a .714 (5-0-7) clip with four blocks and three digs.
Setter Ryan Smith handed out 29 assists and added five kills and four digs. Sean Nguyen posted a team-high seven digs from his libero position.
Aaron Knudsen posted eight kills for the Firestorm.
VU improved to 12-1 overall and 7-1 in the Golden State Athletic Conference. ACU fell to 3-15 and 0-8 in conference play.
What Happened?
Set 1 – Sybesma and Leilua Kruse were effective in getting the Lions out to a 10-3 lead, combining for five kills. Sybesma also had two block assists as VU set the tone early.
Anderson joined the fray with back-to-back kills to extend the lead to 14-6. The Lions played the side out game for a lengthy period and remained with an eight point lead, 20-12, as Smith, Sheveland, Sybesma and Kruse all contributed kills to keep VU safely in front.
ACU scored consecutive points for the first time late in the set to trim the score to 20-13, but VU was never threatened. The Lions responded with a 4-0 run to get to set point at 24-13. Smith's kill polished off the 25-14 win as the Lions hit a dominating .615 (17-1-26) and limited ACU to .000 (5-5-19) efficiency.
Set 2 – The Firestorm took leads of 3-1 and 5-3 as a pair of Lion service errors helped their cause. ACU led 6-5 when the Blue and Gold mounted a 5-0 run to force a Firestorm timeout.
Linden III and Smith started the rally after stuffing an AJ Scott attack. Linden III also teamed up with Sheveland to reject Knudsen at the net.
The Firestorm pulled within two – the last time at 12-10 – but could not get any closer as VU slowly pulled away as the set wore on.
VU led 18-13 following a Sheveland slam. The Firestorm closed the gap to 19-16, but the Lions scored the next two points and ACU called timeout after Anderson pelted the court with a kill.
The Lions built their largest lead of the set at six, 22-16, before three straight Firestorm points gave the home team some hope. However, ACU's small run ended on a service error. Kruse terminated a ball to give the Lions the 25-20 set two victory.
VU hit just .214 (12-6-28), but that was more than enough as ACU checked in at -.038 (7-8-26).
Set 3 – The Lions utilized four runs of at least three straight points to gradually run away to the 25-14 victory. The first one gave VU a 6-3 lead as Sybesma found the court with an ace.
After pulling within 8-7 on a Knudsen putaway, the Firestorm eventually relented as they allowed another VU 3-0 mini-run. Anderson had all three kills during that run to hand VU a 14-9 lead and force a Firestorm timeout.
Knudsen briefly interrupted matters with a kill out of the break, but the Lions scored another three straight as Sybesma collected a kill and an ace, followed by Linden III and Anderson denying Korbin Torres at the net.
The run suddenly became 6-1 as the Lions were well on their way to victory. VU later scored four in a row to open up a 22-12 bulge.
Sheveland had back-to-back kills to get VU to match point, and Anderson finished off the contest with his 12th kill.
VU hit a mammoth .545 (14-2-22) and ACU countered at .158 (7-4-19).
Why Is It Important?: After a two week break from competition, the Lions hit over .400 in a match for the sixth time this season.
What's Next?: The Lions face off against No. 3 OUAZ to conclude their trip to Arizona on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
