COSTA MESA -- The first NCAA Division II home game for Vanguard women's volleyball saw the Lions fight through some early struggles to complete a sweep of the Westcliff Warriors Saturday night. Vanguard won 25-21, 25-21, and 25-13, outhitting the Warriors .272 to .040.
Morgan Cole and
Adeline Galvanoni paced VU with 11 kills each and the and the Blue and Gold tallied a 41-26 edge in kills as a team in the contest.
What Happened? The first set witnessed the Warriors getting on the board first but kills by Galvanoni and Cole soon helped the Lions claim a 4-3 lead. The edge slowly grew as
Alister Borabo slammed down her first kill of the night,
Blair Dodge dished out an ace, and
Delaney Hill struck for a kill to put the lead at 8-5. Westcliff held station and almost tied the game at 13-all, but a strike by Borabo and some WC errors helped the Lions scoot out to a 20-14. However, the Warriors made another stand and soon had the gap down to 20-19. But kills by Galvanoni and Cole rescued the lead and a strike from Borabo gave VU set one 25-21. VU hit .256 in the opening frame, with 14 kills and four errors, while WV had a .154 mark.
Set 2: The second period opened with a sustained Westcliff run, as the visitors went ahead 9-3 to force the Blue and Gold to take a timeout. The reset worked as planned, as kills by Hill and
Kayla Robinson, along with a block by that duo, helped bring the game back to level at 10-all. A block by Hill and
Payton Darm put VU ahead 12-11 and Darm and Borabo then combined for a rejection to grow the lead to 13-11. The Vanguard lead remained around two points over the next few rallies, but another Darm and Borabo block and an ace by
Jenesis Rios helped to push the advantage to 20-15. Westcliff closed the gap over the final stages of the set, but they could not tie the score, as back-to-back kills by Cole gave VU the middle frame 25-21. The Lions increased their attacking prowess to a .290 rate in the middle set and dropped WC to a .051 mark.
Set 3: Kills by Olbur and Galvanoni allowed VU to roll away to a 3-0 lead, with Olbur adding in another kill and an ace soon thereafter. A thumping kill from Robinson and some Westcliff errors put the advantage at 10-2 and the Warriors had to take a timeout to gather themselves. The Lions responded to a short 4-0 stretch from WC after the break with five unanswered points, with Cole and Hill blasting down big kills during the run. An ace by
Madeline DeLucia and a kill by
Kate Phillips extended the lead further and the Lions would quickly collect the set 25-13 to complete the sweep. The Lions hit at a .242 clip in the final set and held WC to a -.182 mark.
Vanguard had an 8-2 lead in blocks in the match, a 7-3 edge in aces, and a slim 47-46 advantage in digs. Galvanoni hit .455 on the night with only one error over 22 attempts, adding in four digs in the process. Cole hit .296 and added in three digs.
Blair Dodge paced the Lions with 12 digs and
Rachel Lim just edged DeLucia in assists 15-14. Both Darm and Borabo had four block assists on the night.
Macy Kavanaugh chipped in six assists and
Kate Fagundes made her home debut and netted two digs and an assist.
What was Said? "Tonight we got to play some different lineups and we were very resilient tonight," said Head Coach
Jennifer Dorn. "We learned some important lessons in adapting and running our style of volleyball. We are continuing to build this team's identity."
What's Next? VU will open Pacific West Conference action next Friday, September 20, as the Lions host Azusa Pacific at 5:00 p.m.
