RIVERSIDE, Calif. --- It was so fun the first time that No. 1 California Baptist University decided to try and recreate its match with No. 2 Lindenwood from the night before, winning another five-set thriller on Friday night.
CBU downed the Lions 25-21, 23-25, 11- 25, 28-26, 15-12, again falling behind 2-1 and rallying for the win.
“We had some of the same issues tonight, but got the same outcome,” said Head Coach Ryan McGuyre. “Tonight was another night not a lot of things went well, but we were able to pick each other up and get the win.”
After the Lancers committed just three service errors in the opening set, CBU served up nine in the following game to fall 25-23.
The Lancers had been down 24-19 in the second set, but rallied to pull within 23-24 behind the service of Joseph Fitzpatrick. In an attempt to tie the game, however, Fitzpatrick served the final ball into the net.
It was all Lindenwood in the third game, as the visitors jumped out to a quick 10-point lead and finished the set off with a 25-11 victory. Fittingly the final point was scored on a service error. The Lions hit .615 and posted five blocks in the third game.
The two teams played nearly even in the fourth set, until Lindenwood went on a three-point run and took a 17-13 lead late in the game, forcing a CBU timeout.
The Lancers clawed their way back in to tie the game at 19-19, though. The teams traded points until Sebastien Steigmeier scored a kill to even the game at 23 and a Lion error gave the Lancers a 24-23 lead.
A service error evened the game at 24-24 and the teams would continue to trade points until Fitzpatrick smashed a clutch kill, giving CBU a 27-26 lead. Steigmeier then stepped up and pounded a ball off the Lion block to give the Lancers the win.
The fifth set opened with the teams playing neck and neck, and as the squads changed sides the Lancers held an 8-7 lead.
CBU opened up a 10-7 lead behind a kill from Ricky Brazee and an ace from Steigmeier.
The Lancers held that lead and Levi Cabral laced a ball down the center of the court to give the home team match point. Cabral stepped up again and finished the match by hitting a ball across the court and right in front of a Lindenwood player for the win.
“Levi has matured so much and has such a will to win that he picked us up tonight by doing so many good things on the court,” said McGuyre. “They are a tough NAIA team that does a lot of non-traditional stuff which gave us some problems.”
Cabral led all players for the second straight night with 23 kills and hit .349 on the match. He also did not commit a single service error.
The Lancers move to 13-5 on the season and drop Lindenwood to 12-7. The two wins against the Lions likely assures the Lancers of holding on to their No. 1 ranking.
CBU downed the Lions 25-21, 23-25, 11- 25, 28-26, 15-12, again falling behind 2-1 and rallying for the win.
“We had some of the same issues tonight, but got the same outcome,” said Head Coach Ryan McGuyre. “Tonight was another night not a lot of things went well, but we were able to pick each other up and get the win.”
After the Lancers committed just three service errors in the opening set, CBU served up nine in the following game to fall 25-23.
The Lancers had been down 24-19 in the second set, but rallied to pull within 23-24 behind the service of Joseph Fitzpatrick. In an attempt to tie the game, however, Fitzpatrick served the final ball into the net.
It was all Lindenwood in the third game, as the visitors jumped out to a quick 10-point lead and finished the set off with a 25-11 victory. Fittingly the final point was scored on a service error. The Lions hit .615 and posted five blocks in the third game.
The two teams played nearly even in the fourth set, until Lindenwood went on a three-point run and took a 17-13 lead late in the game, forcing a CBU timeout.
The Lancers clawed their way back in to tie the game at 19-19, though. The teams traded points until Sebastien Steigmeier scored a kill to even the game at 23 and a Lion error gave the Lancers a 24-23 lead.
A service error evened the game at 24-24 and the teams would continue to trade points until Fitzpatrick smashed a clutch kill, giving CBU a 27-26 lead. Steigmeier then stepped up and pounded a ball off the Lion block to give the Lancers the win.
The fifth set opened with the teams playing neck and neck, and as the squads changed sides the Lancers held an 8-7 lead.
CBU opened up a 10-7 lead behind a kill from Ricky Brazee and an ace from Steigmeier.
The Lancers held that lead and Levi Cabral laced a ball down the center of the court to give the home team match point. Cabral stepped up again and finished the match by hitting a ball across the court and right in front of a Lindenwood player for the win.
“Levi has matured so much and has such a will to win that he picked us up tonight by doing so many good things on the court,” said McGuyre. “They are a tough NAIA team that does a lot of non-traditional stuff which gave us some problems.”
Cabral led all players for the second straight night with 23 kills and hit .349 on the match. He also did not commit a single service error.
The Lancers move to 13-5 on the season and drop Lindenwood to 12-7. The two wins against the Lions likely assures the Lancers of holding on to their No. 1 ranking.
