No. 1 Sunbirds defeat No. 3 Cal Baptist 3-2
FRESNO, Calif. – No. 1 Fresno Pacific (18-0, 8-0) remain undefeated after facing several top NAIA teams in the last week. Most recently, the Sunbirds took down No. 3 Cal Baptist (16-2, 6-2 GSAC) in a thrilling five set match. The Sunbirds fell behind 2-1, but rallied back to win the final two sets scoring 25-19, 18-25, 29-31, 25-18, 15-10.
Coach Dennis Janzen remarked, “[Cal Baptist] played a great match and kept it close, but our girls really stepped up in the end.”
Cal Baptist had good numbers: .233 hitting percentage, 64 assists to Fresno Pacific’s 62, and 64 digs to Fresno Pacific’s 61. In the second set, which the Lancers won 25-18, Cal Baptist hit an amazing .630.
However, it was not enough to upset the Sunbirds, who in the end hit slightly better (.279) and came up with 12 blocks over the Lancers 7 blocks. Also, the Sunbirds had the momentum, hitting .359 and .400 in the final two sets with only one error in the final set. The Lancers hit .080 in the final set.
Martina Gregusova led the Sunbirds with 18 kills, while
Michelle Johnson and
Lauren Albertson followed with 12 and 11 kills apiece, respectively. Albertson left the game briefly in the third set limping off the court, but returned to hit six kills and two blocks in the final two sets helping the Sunbirds overtake the Lancers, including two of the Sunbirds’ final three points to win the match.
Albertson led the Sunbirds with a .600 hitting percentage with 11 kills on 15 attempts and two errors.
Coach Janzen continued, “We really bounced back after the third set with a solid team effort.”
Emily Carroll had 34 assists,
Mariah Mandelbaum had 22 digs, and Albertson led with 6 blocks.
In the last week the Sunbirds had a challenging run of top-ten teams, defeating No. 2 Concordia, No. 8 Azusa Pacific and now No. 3 Cal Baptist. The Sunbirds will remain home this week as they take on The Master’s College on Thursday, October 8 at 7 p.m.