HOUSTON - The young CSUB Volleyball
team continued to live life on the edge Saturday, losing a tight four-set match
to the University of Pennsylvania before upsetting 2008 NCAA Tournament
qualifier Lamar University for the second consecutive season in a five-set
marathon to conclude play at the Husky Classic hosted by Houston Baptist
University.
CSUB
(7-5 overall) won one deuce set and lost two others in a tough 23-25, 28-26,
25-22, 25-23 loss to Penn in the morning. Any lingering disappointment
evaporated quickly, however, as the Roadrunners raced to a 2-0 lead then held
on to shock the Cardinals 26-24, 25-21, 19-25, 23-25, 15-11.
Sophomore
outside hitter Lindy DeGeare (Stockdale HS) put the finishing touches
on an all-tournament worthy weekend with 33 kills and four aces in Saturday.
She recorded a personal record 25 kills in the win over Lamar. That eclipsed
the 23 she had to open the trip at UT-San Antonio Tuesday.
Sophomore
middle blocker Alysia Baker (Vista/Tri-City Christian HS) 25 kills, six aces, five
blocks and a .438 attack percentage Saturday. She chipped in 14 kills, three
aces and three blocks while attacking at a .458 clip versus Lamar.
Senior
setter Barbie Unfried (Bakersfield HS) earned all-tournament
honors as well. She averaged 10 assists per set Saturday while adding eight
kills against Penn and her CSUB career high of six aces in the victory over
Lamar.
"What
a great way to end a very long trip," said Head coach John Price, whose team
finished a whirlwind six-matches-in-five-days tour across Texas. "Nobody would
have blamed the team for coming out flat playing at 8 a.m. (Pacific time)
against a good Penn team, but they battled to the end.
"Then
to follow that up with a win against a Lamar team many feel will defend its
conference title and return to the NCAA Tournament is a great accomplishment."
The
match against Lamar could have gone either way, with sets one and four both
going deuce. The Roadrunners led nearly all the way in the first set after
opening a 6-1 lead. But Lamar equalized at 21-21 and the teams traded sideouts
until consecutive kills by Lindsay Toone (Liberty HS) and Tika Smith
(Sweetwater, Texas/SHS) broke a 24-24 tie.
The
teams played through 13 ties and six lead changes in a taut second set. Tied at
21-21, a Cardinal attack error opened the door for CSUB and Unfried served out
the set.
Lamar
finally pulled out a close win of its own in the third. The Cardinals led 18-17
when they scored five of the next six points to take control. The fourth set
maintained the pattern with 12 more ties and four more lead changes. CSUB led
22-21 before three different Lamar players registered kills to pull out the win
and force a deciding set.
The
Roadrunners jumped to a 4-1 lead to open the fifth before Lamar reeled off five
consecutive points to jump ahead. Trailing 10-8, however, the Roadrunners took
control when Baker ended three of the next four rallies with kills for a 12-10
CSUB lead.
With
CSUB leading 13-11, the match fittingly ended with DeGeare swinging for the
final two kills.
Just
as easily as CSUB could have tripped up against Lamar, it could have won
against Penn. The Roadrunners never trailed in the first set but had to hang on
at the end for a 25-23 win.
Baker
served for the second set at 24-23, but libero Madi Wojciechowski picked up her
first kill of the season from the back row to tie the set. The Roadrunners
saved a pair of set points put couldn't avoid the third in the 28-26 loss.
In
a mirror image of the first set, Penn led all the way in the third. This time,
the Quakers had to hold off a late CSUB charge when consecutive kills by Baker
and DeGeare helped the Roadrunners pull within 24-22 before falling.
The
fourth set featured an incredible 15 ties and nine lead changes. Smith's 11th
kill of the match gave the Roadrunners their final lead at 22-21 before Penn
took four of the last five points to end the match.
CSUB
returns to California to face arguably the toughest portion of its 2009
schedule over the next five matches. The Roadrunners will head to Stockton next
weekend for the UOP Invitational where they will face Pacific, Loyola Marymount
and Nevada Thursday through Saturday at the Spanos Center.
ALL-TOURNAMENT
TEAM: Barbie Unfried - CSUB;
Lindy DeGeare - CSUB; Elizabeth Semmens - Penn; Emma Ridley - TAMU-CC;
Lauren Holdorff - Lamar; Courtney Whittleman - HBU
Most Outstanding Defensive Player: Madison Wojciechowski,
Penn; Most Valuable Player:
Adrianne Meengs, Lamar
