COSTA MESA -- Another hot first set gave the Vanguard women's volleyball team some hope against undefeated Fresno Pacific Friday night, but the Sunbirds did not let their record get blemished.  FPU emerged with the win after taking sets two, three, and four to improve to 17-0 overall and 5-0 in Pacific West Conference action.  The Lions fell to 13-4, 1-3, but hung tough with the #19 team in the most recent American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, as VU had more kills on the night.
 
What Happened?  The opening stanza was highly successful for the Lions, who toppled the Sunbirds for their first set defeat since FPU dropped one to Point Loma over three matches ago.  Viktoria Dickson and Payton Darm dropped kills over the first three rallies to establish the VU lead.  Adeline Galvanoni joined the party soon thereafter, and a block by Morgan Cole and Kayla Robinson put the Lions ahead 7-2.  VU then doubled its lead over the next interval, as an ace by Cole and an FPU attack error put the Lions ahead 14-4.  The Sunbirds picked up their play a bit from there, but could not claw back enough points, as a kill by Dickson handed the Lions the frame 25-16.  Vanguard owned a .361 attacking rate in the first (16-3-36) while holding FPU to a .000 mark (6-6-33).
 
Set 2
The Blue and Gold again struck first thanks to Galvanoni, but the Sunbirds were now alert to the danger.  The visitors leveled things up six times over the opening stages until VU took a 6-6 tie and scored four unanswered, with Galvanoni netting two more kills.  The Lions outscored Fresno Pacific 5-2 over the next few rallies, thanks again to Galvanoni and a service ace for Darm.  But down 16-10, the Sunbirds took flight, as the guests used a 9-3 stretch to tie things at 19-all.  The energy stayed with Fresno Pacific the rest of the set, as FPU went on to win 25-22 off a service error.  The Sunbirds jumped to a .393 clip in the second interval and held VU to a .282 mark.
 
Set 3
Fresno Pacific used a pair of aces to go up 3-0, but Dickson slammed one into the corner to put VU on the board before she planted her own ace to narrow the gap to 3-2.  Unfortunately, the Sunbirds stretched their wings and got their lead to 13-4 before Vanguard got back into gear.  It was a high-caliber response by the Lions, who rolled off a 9-1 period to bring the gap down to 14-13, with Dickson, Hill, and Darm slapping down kills.  Both Kate Fagundes and Cole contributed aces during the run, and two rallies later, Darm took an overpass and tapped it home to tie things at 15-all.  The Blue and Gold marched almost in step with FPU over the next few rallies, but the Sunbirds took a 20-19 lead and scored five of the next six points to claim the frame 25-21.  Vanguard hit .214, while Fresno Pacific had a .295 metric in the third.
 
Set 4
The teams exchanged points early in the set, with neither side holding a lead for long.  Kills by Robinson and Cole put the Lions ahead 12-10, and VU maintained that lead over the next phase.  Hill joined Robinson for a rejection, then stuffed a kill down on the FPU side to run the gap up to 15-12.  However, the Sunbirds used a 7-1 sprint to take the lead, and they did not relinquish it.  Galvanoni had three kills down the stretch for Vanguard, but it was not enough, as the Sunbirds claimed the set 25-20.  FPU hit .519 in the final frame (16-2-27), and Vanguard improved to a .289 rate (16-5-38).
 
 
The Lions had a better hitting percentage in the match than FPU (.284 to .258) but Fresno Pacific had more aces (8-7), blocks (8-6), and digs (65-59).  Cole was the focal point again for VU, as she netted a third-straight double-double with a match-high 17 kills and 11 digs.  Galvanoni had 16 kills and hit .378 and Dickson had 11 strikes.  Macy Kavanaugh had 26 assists, just ahead of Julia Ringenberg's 22.  Kavanaugh and Dickson each scooped up 10 digs for double-doubles.  Fagundes led VU with 14 digs, Robinson had six block assists, and Hill had four block assists. 
 
 
What was Said?  "We battled well tonight," said Head Coach Jennifer Dorn.  "And we knew the game would come down to serve and pass, which we did not win.  I'm proud of our start and I know that we can compete; we just need to take care of the controllables.  Heads are up and ready to take on a tough NorCal trip."
 
What's Next?  Vanguard will go to Jessup, then Dominican, and finish the trip at Menlo this upcoming week, with Jessup up first next Wednesday.