No. 24 Cal Baptist will surely rise in the NCAA Division II volleyball rankings this week after winning all four of its matches without dropping a set in the six-team West Region Showcase at UAA, where the host team put in marathon labor Saturday.
No. 14 UAA won a five-set match against Concordia-Irvine in the morning, then surrendered leads in fourth and fifth sets in the evening in falling to No. 11 Cal State San Bernardino.
The Lancers rolled past Cal State San Bernardino 25-19, 25-11, 25-9, in just 69 minutes Saturday afternoon to stamp their perfect mark at the Alaska Airlines Center. Cal Baptist, which swept UAA on Friday, only once trailed Cal State San Bernardino — 1-0 in the third set.
Cal Baptist (7-0 overall) went 4-0 in the Showcase. Western Washington (6-2) went 3-1, Concordia Irvine (5-2) and UAA (4-4) were both 2-2 and Chico State (5-4) and Cal State San Bernardino (4-4) were both 1-3.
No. 14 Cal State San Bernardino 3, UAA 2
Moira Murphy's kill, her team-leading 16th of the night, punctuated the Coyotes' comeback over the Seawolves.
UAA was up 2-1 after three sets, led 22-15 in the fourth set and 8-4 in the fifth. The Coyotes won 25-20, 20-25, 17-25, 25-23, 15-13.
Chrisalyn Johnson led UAA with 22 kills, Leah Swiss had 15 and Diana Fa'amausili chipped in 12.
Lauren Nicholson had 13 kills for Cal State San Bernardino and Hailey Jackson added 12.
No. 14 UAA 3, No. 15 Concordia Irvine 2
UAA won a furious fifth set that featured 12 ties to beat Concordia Irvine, which saved three match points in the set.
The Seawolves prevailed 25-21, 14-25, 25-18, 15-25, 17-15, in 2 hours, 15 minutes. Yet another five-setter meant the Seawolves played four five-setters in their first seven matches this season after playing five five-setters in 37 matches last season.
Diana Fa'amausili delivered 10 kills for UAA, Tara Melton bagged six kills and seven block assists, and Christalyn Johnson served four aces.
UAA withstood some fierce hitting from the Eagles, who were led by Rachel Flynn, who furnished a match-high 20 kills and two hitting errors. Concordia Irvine's Cindy Tran added 18 kills with two errors on .593 hitting and Amber Rose added eight kills on .500 hitting.
No. 24 Cal Baptist 3, No. 11 Cal State San Bernardino 0
Twins Madison Witt and McKenna Witt bombed 13 kills and 11 kills, respectively, to assure the Lancers a 4-0 mark in the tournament.
Cal Baptist cruised 25-19, 25-11, 25-9, and hit .347 as a team.
The Witts are graduate-level students who came to Cal Baptist after playing four seasons of beach volleyball at the University of Arizona.
No. 10 Western Washington 3, Chico State 0
Joellee Buckner cranked 14 kills without a hitting error for a .583 percentage that spearheaded the Vikings' sweep.
Western Washington won 27-25, 25-17, 25-16. Abby Phelps contributed 12 kills for the Vikings, and Michaela Hall had nine.
NCAA Division II West Region Showcase
At Alaska Airlines Center
Saturday's results
No. 14 UAA d. No. 15 Concordia Irvine 25-21, 14-25, 25-18, 18-25, 17-15
No. 24 Cal Baptist d. No 11 Cal State San Bernardino 25-19, 25-11, 25-9
No. 10 Western Washington d. Chico State 27-25, 25-17, 25-16
No. 11 Cal State San Bernardino vs. No. 14 UAA 25-20, 20-25, 17-25, 25-23, 15-13