COSTA MESA -- Vanguard women's volleyball concluded the VU/Biola Tournament with a flourish as the squad picked up wins over the University of Texas Permian Basin (24-26, 25-10, 25-14, 25-22) and CSU Dominguez Hills (25-19, 25-19, 25-12) Saturday.  Vanguard completes the early part of the schedule with a 6-1 record.
 
 
What Happened?  The Lions and the Falcons were nearly equal early on, with three ties keeping the teams close.  Kayla Robinson had the first two VU kills, but UTPB would keep a two-point edge until a 14-14 tie.  The Lions got kills from Delaney Hill and Payton Darm to narrow leads, but the Falcons still looked poised to take the set.  Robinson twice tied the game (23-23 & 24-24), but the final two points went to Permian Basin to give the guests set one 26-24.  UTPB had a .227 hitting rate in the first, while VU had a .255 mark.
 
Set 2: The Falcons remained close to the Lions during the early phases, but that all turned after a kill from Hill put the Blue and Gold ahead 10-8.  VU surged ahead 13-9 after a strike by Adeline Galvanoni and three rallies later, Darm needed ice for her right arm, as she served out the period.  The Lions used 12 unanswered points to win the set 25-12, with the squad hitting .346 in the frame while holding UTPB to a -.135 rate.
 
Set 3:  The Falcons recovered a little from that third period but not enough, as the Lions had a 7-0 stretch to take a 3-3 tie to a 9-3 advantage.  Morgan Cole and Viktoria Dickson sported kills throughout the period, as the duo led Vanguard in kills in the third set.  A kill by Macy Kavanaugh was followed by one from Cole that gave VU set three 25-14, as VU again held UTPB to a negative hitting rate (-.185), with the home side holding a .280 rate .
 
Set 4:  Freed from their sorrows of the past two sets, the Falcons hit a team-best .364 in the fourth, but still came up short.  There were 11 ties, including at the 20-20 mark, but Hill struck for a kill, and the Falcons then made two errors to put Vanguard ahead 23-20.  A thumping kill for Galvanoni and a service error by UTPB put VU over the finish line first with a 25-22 victory.  VU replied to the hitting of the Falcons with a match-best .486 rate, with 19 kills and only two errors on 35 swings.
 
The Lions had a .338 hitting percentage for the match and held the Falcons to a .085 rate.  Cole collected a double-double, with a match-high 15 kills and 10 digs.  Galvanoni had 12 kills and Robinson had 11 on 15 swings without any errors (.733).  Dickson led all players with 18 digs and Kavanaugh had a match-high 25 assists.
 
VU 3  CSUDH 0
For the second time in two days, the Lions completed a sweep in the twin bill.  It was back-and-forth in the early stages of the first set, but tied at 6-all, kills by Robinson, Darm, and Dickson put the Lions up 9-6.  The Toros would stay within a couple of points, but ahead 19-18, the Blue and Gold separated themselves with a 6-1 stretch, with Cole and Hill getting kills and a couple of CSUDH errors giving Vanguard set one 25-19.  VU hit .257 while the Torors hit .063.
 
Set 2: Julia Ringenberg helped to orchestrate a 3-0 rush for VU to take a 7-2 advantage in the second stanza, with the freshman landing an ace in the process.  Another blitz by the Lions took an 11-9 edge and turned it into a 17-9 lead, with Cole planting down two kills and Darm and Glavanoni combining for a block.  Dominguez Hills worked hard to get back into it, closing to 22-19, but two errors and a block by Darm and Galvanoni sealed the set 25-19 for Vanguard.  CSUDH hit .024 in the period and Vanguard had a .250 rate. 
 
Set 3:  The Toros barely improved on the attack (.029), but the Lions let fly with rapid precision to the tune of a .484 hitting percentage, with 17 kills and two errors on 31 attempts.  The home side went up 7-2, with Ringenberg netting another ace and Cole and Robinson standing tall for a block.  Kills from Robinson and Dickson put the lead at 10-6, and a 6-0 hot streak cemented the set, with an attack error by CSUDH giving the Lions the sweep 25-19. 
 
Vanguard hit .327 in the contest and kept the Toros to a snail's pace at a .040 rate.  Cole had 12 kills to lead all players and Galvanoni was next for VU with eight.  Dickson registered 14 digs to pace all players and Kavanaugh had 21 assists, with Ringenberg netting 12.  Darm had four block assists and Vanguard had a 10-4 edge in block assists in the contest.
 
What was Said?  "This weekend was great in so many ways.  We are really starting to gel as a team and find our stride," said Head Coach Jennifer Dorn.  "We took advantage of opportunities that we had, or put ourselves in, and it's so encouraging to see us step up to the challenges.  It feels good to go 6-1 in this non-conference portion of the season and grow in our confidence as we step into a very tough PacWest schedule."
 
What's Next?  VU plays Pacific West Conference schools the rest of the way, but with the changes to the conference slate, only one per school will count towards the conference record.  That means the match next Friday, September 19, at 6:00 p.m., will not be the official PacWest opener.