COSTA MESA – Vanguard started its second of a four-game homestand with a dominant 2-0 set lead over Hawaii Pacific Saturday evening. The match took a slight turn however in set three, when VU's match point was upended by an 8-0 HPU run to force a fourth period. The Lions managed to reset and fought through a tight knit fourth frame to win 3-1 (25-15, 25-16, 24-26, 25-23) on the night and return to winning ways. The Blue and Gold jumps to 5-6 and 3-1 in the Pacific West Conference. HPU falls to 1-9 and 0-4, enduring a five-game loss streak.
A pair of Lions had career nights, with
Abigayle Gotwals leading the way with a career-best 14 kills. She also added 11 digs, three blocks and one ace for back-to-back double-doubles. Freshman
Meadow Hobbs had her first career double-double with career-high marks in kills (12) hitting .435 (12-2-23) and 19 digs. She also added two aces.
Haylee Long had nine kills and three block assists.
Macy Kavanaugh added to the double-double party with a career's 12
th in a 22 assist, and career-best16 dig performance. Sophomore setter
Julia Ringenberg netted 25 assists and a game-high three aces.
Middle blocker
Kayla Robinson was errorless on 18 swings. The senior hit .389 (7-0-18) with four blocks for her third faultless match of the season.
Liberos
Emma Garrett and
Kate Fagundes combined for 14 digs. Garrett tied her career-high eight digs, while Fagundes had a season-best six assists, with two aces.
The Lions hit .185 for the evening (51-23-151) to HPU's .118 (36-18-153). Vanguard's defense offered a season-best 82 digs and outblocked the Sharks 10-6.
HPU's Sophia Cooper had the team-high 14 kills with nine digs.
What Happened? Long and Robinson were indomitable during the first frame, combining for eight kills with just one error. The Lions also posted four aces for a commanding opening set. The match started with a four-all split, before VU pieced together a 7-2 push. Hobbs finished the run, with an ace to the back corner, while Robinson planted two kills down the middle with the help of Ringenberg (11-7 VU).
A Henninger, Long double-block forced the third Shark attack error of the period and Ringenberg spooled an ace off a Shark forearm to flesh out VU's 15
th point.
Haley Langdon checked on to stack a quick kill and push the Lions toward the red zone. The set returned to the Long, Robinson show as they cast three of the last four kills in Vanguard's 25-15 win.
Set 2 The Blue and Gold bolted a match-high 15 kills hitting a game-best .333 (15-4-33). Gotwals and Long unracked the first kills of the period, with Long continuing her assault from the right pin. The two teams struggled to put together clean rallies through the next phase of points, splitting two errors for a 4-4 tie. Henninger finally helped the home team pull away with the first of three Lion aces in the set as VU speared a 5-1 run to force an early timeout (9-5 VU).
The game-breaking run was a 10-5 Lion haul, where VU only committed one attack error. Gotwals got going from the outside crunching down three kills, two of which were back to back. The Blue and Gold had their largest lead of the night at 23-12, with a
Daphne Raymond, Robinson double-block. Hobbs had the last two kills of the set, with a tool to accent a 25-16 win.
Set 3 The third stanza settled into a similar rhythm, but Vanguard succumbed to late errors and a potent Shark resurgence amid the set's final points.
Vanguard had a comfortable 6-1 start, a Ringenberg ace was the icing on the cake, but Raymond shined above the rest, with a kill, block, a defensive stop leading to a Gotwals point.
The Lions maintained steady scoring bursts and saw a healthy run with a 7-3 trade more than doubling their advantage (16-7 VU). Raymond was influential with another kill, Gotwals grabbed another two points, Ringenberg rolled down an ace and Kavanaugh snuck a setter dump to the hardwood.
The turning point was down the stretch, when Vanguard sourced a double-block and Long backset kill to take match point (24-18).
Hawaii Pacific's veteran libero, Taylor Kaoihana rotated to serve and commandeered a set-defining 8-0 run to stun VU and negate match point. The service pressure dislodged VU's rhythm and led to six late VU errors, four of which came in a row. HPU's setter helped wedge a monster double-block to flip match-point and a VU attack error pushed the game to four sets.
HPU had nine kills (.094, 9-4-53) with their most total attacks on the night. The Lions hit their match-low .038 (11-9-53).
Set 4 The last set was a slow burn with 11 ties, the most of the night and very little wiggle room. VU's win was not set in stone until the final few points.
Unlike the previous periods, VU trailed for the early majority with HPU sporting a 7-4 lead to start. The two split service errors to eventually help the Sharks to double-figures (10-8 HPU). It was Long who kept the Lions around through the first third of points, she had the three of the first four Lion kills.
The set was pinched at five ties midway through the set before a couplet of Shark miscues gave Vanguard a 21-19 lead. The Lions would only hatch two kills for the remainder of the match however, as Cooper collected a find to push a 5-2 trade and square the score at 23.
VU's last two kills were timely out of the Hawaii Pacific timeout, with Hobbs supercharged after and a big kill from buckled off the blocks from the left pin. Robinson finished the game on the next rally, with a gentle tap over the top that was mishandled by the Sharks to secure the 3-1 win.
What's Next? Vanguard face a tough test with Chaminade coming to town Monday, September 21 at 7 pm.
