COSTA MESA– Saturday saw the conclusion of the Orange County Classic for Vanguard Women's Volleyball (2-5) as the Blue and Gold pulled out their first two wins of the season over Cal State Monterey Bay (0-6) and CSUDH (0-7). The Lions played in their second five-setter of the season to dispatch CSUMB in five, (17-25, 25-18, 23-25, 25-16,15-4) while the bout with CSUDH was claimed in four (25-23, 25-22, 21-25, 25-17).
VU's two wins were characterized by a dense blockade in the front row, with 27 blocks across both games: more than they had the entire season coming in. Their 15 blocks against CSUMB were the most in NCAA DII era (14 CUI 11/14/25) and most overall since September 13, 2022 against Chapman.
VU 3 CSUSMB 2
What Happened? Vanguard opened first blood to put the match in motion, but they steadily trailed the visitors with three quickfire kills from the Otters. CSUSMB then marked a 5-0 run off the back of three VU attack errors to slip away 9-3. The Lions had a short respite with an
Abigayle Gotwals grab from the outside, but the Otters did not let up, as they shoveled a 6-2 run on the board to place the Lions out of reach (19-11). Vanguard did stab a 3-0 spurt with a pair of Otter errors, but the visitors stocked a clinical 6-1 run to close out a 25-17 win.
VU hit its match-worst .032 (9-8-31) in the opening frame, while CSUMB had its match-high .182 (9-5-22).
Set two saw the Lions jolt out to a 4-1 run, and also welcomed more frequent touches
Kayla Robinson through the middle, as she finished on the gap set for an early lead. At 8-4 VU, proceedings felt comfortable, but the Otters tested the Lion resolve with a hulking 9-0 run to put the Lions in the hole 13-9 CSUSMB. Monterey Bay notched three aces, four kills and a double-block during the dominant slate. Nothing could prepare them Vanguard's response out of the timeout however, as the Lions unloaded an 11-1 run to put the set out of the Otters grasp.
Kayla Henninger heated up at the service line to trigger the push with three aces, including back to back bullets to help the Lions win 25-17.
The third frame elicited nine ties and four lead changes – a game-high on the afternoon. The Lions had nine attack errors and were outhit .146 (12-6-41) to .135 (14-9-37). Gotwals had the only kill in the early exchanges of a 4-3 Otter lead. The Lion setters got involved through the next phase of points as
Julia Ringenberg filed an ace and
Macy Kavanaugh placed Henninger through for 6-5. The pairings had six ties to lock the score at 16-all before anyone could wriggle away. CSUMB took the initiative with a 5-1 run, helped by two double blocks to breach the red zone 23-20. VU did grapple a 2-0 run with shots from Robinson and
Daphne Raymond, but the Lions laid out two service errors to lose the frame 25-23.
Vanguard never dropped the lead in the remaining two sets. It was a fast 4-0 push with a
Grace McQuoid, Henninger block to go up 7-3. The Otters matched VU with an identical run to keep the score square, but that was the last time they kept on pace with VU in the fourth frame. The Lions stormed a 10-1 run to go up 20-9 in their largest lead of the day at 11. McQuoid had two aces during the move while Robinson contributed to three points. The Otters committed two late errors to eventually give VU the win 25-16 and ticket to the final frame.
The Blue and Gold left nothing to chance with their first win of the season on the line in set five. They routed CSUMB 15-4 with a .200 (6-3-15) hitting percentage to the Otters -.364 (1-9-22) clip. Robinson and McQuoid had the first two VU kills in a 2-2 score before calamity hit the visitors. The Otters surrendered nine attack errors in the remaining 13 VU points in the set, and only posted one more kill in a marquee finish for VU.
The Lions hit .130 (48-29-146) for the afternoon, while CSUMB had a season-low -.019 (37-40-156). Raymond led VU with 10 kills, Robinson racked in nine and
Meadow Hobbs added seven. Kavanaugh led the assist charts with 21 and 10 digs for the double-double. McQuoid tallied 12 digs and Robinson put up a monstrous eight blocks.
VU 3 CSUDH 1
Having just secured their first win of the season a few hours prior, Vanguard entered the 5pm tilt as though an ominous fog had finally lifted. The momentum they finished the Monterey Bay match with was still with them to begin the evening fixture.
They quickly raced out to a 5-2 lead, thanks to an ace from
Kate Fagundes that was sandwiched between kills from Henninger and Hobbs. However, service errors began to build for both sides, as a combined five over the next few minutes left the match at 14-11 VU.
A see-saw would then see momentum offer itself up for grabs as Vanguard neared the red-zone. But, the Lions would be the ones to lay claim in set-one, as
Haylee Long detonated for a kill, before a few points later, Long would combine with Robinson on a major block to put VU up 21-17. Robinson then tagged in McQuoid for a combo-block, before ultimately the Lions would return to Hobbs for two kills to claim the first set at 25-23.
Vanguard won the first set with Robinson hitting in the red, despite the fact that she entered the match with four of her last five games seeing her hit over .500. Needless to say, she would not be held down for the whole match. In the meantime, her defense did not slip, as she sent a message on the first point of set two, leading a triple block between her,
Daphne Raymond, and McQuoid.
There would be a flurry of attack errors and service errors for a good while, up until the score rested at 11-7 VU. A 5-2 mini-run for the Lions saw the home team spread the wealth, with kills from Long, Hobbs, and Raymond, along with a Kavanaugh ace (16-9, VU). Despite the Toros' best effort, they were kept at bay long enough, with Coach JP using her timeouts strategically to quell the opposition. It was Hobbs who got a connection from Kavanaugh (21 assists) again to send the teams into their changeover at 25-22.
Set three was the Toros putting their best foot forward and Vanguard showing glimpses of their selves from last week. CSUDH utilized three aces to go up 4-1 early, before three consecutive attack errors was enough to force a timeout from coach. VU turned to their senior middle in Robinson to get back in the groove, cutting the deficit to one (12-11, CSUDH). Neither team would have a run larger than three points for the rest of the set. Down 23-20, Kavanaugh had a nice deke-and-dump over the net to scrounge back to within two, but Alexander for the Toros had two straight kills to stave off a sweep.
The final set was Vanguard looking the most dominant as they have thus far this season, ensuring this would not go to five for the second time today. Robinson, McQuoid, and
Haley Langdon (who started the last two sets in place of Raymond) all had kills to help VU to a 5-0 lead. A third kill of the set for Robinson and another cataclysmic block between her and Langdon was enough to force at Toro timeout at 9-1 VU. However, the timeout was all for naught, as more of McQuoid and Hobbs ushered the Lions to a 17-3 lead. Though Dominguez-Hills did well to make the score respectable, the deciding set was not as close as the 25-17 line would otherwise indicate.
VU hit .198 on the evening, their best so far this year.
McQuoid (OH) secured her first career double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs to lead VU, with freshman
Meadow Hobbs notching double-digit kills (11) for the first time in her young collegiate career. Cal State Dominguez-Hills were led by Jaidan Alexander's 10 kills (.118) and Anna Sanzaro's eight (.615).
Both teams struggled to hit, with Vanguard holding the edge at .198 to .106. But the battle at the net was where momentum was claimed tonight, as VU amassed 11 blocks to the Toros' three.
What Was Said? "This weekend we learned some good lessons and more importantly how to finish," shared Head Coach
Jennifer Dorn. "We are learning to believe and trust our process better. Our last match was nice to see our outsides stepping into a more assertive role in their offense. I'm proud of our girls and their response to Friday's loss. We are surrounding and pushing into our team and culture during the difficult times and that's going to really matter in the long run."
What's Next? No time like the present to build some momentum. The PacWest slate begins Friday, September 11 in NorCal, as the Lions take on Jessup in Rocklin (4pm), before they head across the bridge on Saturday for a 2pm Dominican (CA) matchup.
