Cal Baptist University’s Yagoda Jedrzejczak (10) is unable to block the shot of Sonoma State University Kelsey McIntire (2) in quarter final match of the NCAA Division II West Regional volleyball championships at Cal Baptist University Thursday in Riverside, CA. November 30, 2017. (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)
Cal Baptist University’s Mckenna Witt (1) tries to block the shot of Sonoma State University Kelsey McIntire (2) in quarter final match of the NCAA Division II West Regional volleyball championships at Cal Baptist University Thursday in Riverside, CA. November 30, 2017. (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)
Cal Baptist University’s Sydney Kralj (18) tries to block the shot of Sonoma State University Kelsey McIntire (2) in quarter final match of the NCAA Division II West Regional volleyball championships at Cal Baptist University Thursday in Riverside, CA. November 30, 2017. (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)
Cal Baptist University’s Lauren Hackett (7), Sydney Marks (4), Sydney Kralj (18) Madison Witt (2) and Elizabeth Gilley (12) celebrate a point against Sonoma State University in quarter final match of the NCAA Division II West Regional volleyball championships at Cal Baptist University Thursday in Riverside, CA. November 30, 2017. (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)
Cal Baptist University’s Mckenna Witt (1) gets the kill over two Sonoma State University defenders in quarter final match of the NCAA Division II West Regional volleyball championships at Cal Baptist University Thursday in Riverside, CA. November 30, 2017. (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)
Cal Baptist University’s Mckenna Witt (1) gets the block of Sonoma State University’s Amy Trephan (16) in quarter final match of the NCAA Division II West Regional volleyball championships at Cal Baptist University Thursday in Riverside, CA. November 30, 2017. (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)
Cal Baptist University’s Mckenna Witt (1) gets the kill over two Sonoma State University defenders in quarter final match of the NCAA Division II West Regional volleyball championships at Cal Baptist University Thursday in Riverside, CA. November 30, 2017. (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)
Cal Baptist University ‘s Crazies cheer after a block by CBU against Sonoma State University in quarter final match of the NCAA Division II West Regional volleyball championships at Cal Baptist University Thursday in Riverside, CA. November 30, 2017. (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)
Cal Baptist University’s Mckenna Witt (1) hits the ball against Sonoma State University in quarter final match of the NCAA Division II West Regional volleyball championships at Cal Baptist University Thursday in Riverside, CA. November 30, 2017. (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)
Cal Baptist University’s Yagoda Jedrzejczak (10) leaps for joy as CBU fights its way back against Sonoma State University in quarter final match of the NCAA Division II West Regional volleyball championships at Cal Baptist University Thursday in Riverside, CA. November 30, 2017. (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)
Cal Baptist University’s head coach Branden Higa talks with his team in a time out in quarter final match of the NCAA Division II West Regional volleyball championships at Cal Baptist University Thursday in Riverside, CA. November 30, 2017. (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)
Cal Baptist University’s Yagoda Jedrzejczak (10), center and teammates celebrate taking the lead in game three against Sonoma State University in quarter final match of the NCAA Division II West Regional volleyball championships at Cal Baptist University Thursday in Riverside, CA. November 30, 2017. (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)
in quarter final match of the NCAA Division II West Regional volleyball championships at Cal Baptist University Thursday in Riverside, CA. November 30, 2017. (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)
Cal Baptist University’s Mckenna Witt (1) celebrates a block against Sonoma State University in quarter final match of the NCAA Division II West Regional volleyball championships at Cal Baptist University Thursday in Riverside, CA. November 30, 2017. (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)
Cal Baptist University players celebrate a point against Sonoma State University in quarter final match of the NCAA Division II West Regional volleyball championships at Cal Baptist University Thursday in Riverside, CA. November 30, 2017. (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)
Sonoma State University Calan Seitz (10) hits into the block of Cal Baptist University’s Sydney Kralj (18) in quarter final match of the NCAA Division II West Regional volleyball championships at Cal Baptist University Thursday in Riverside, CA. November 30, 2017. (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)
A Cal Baptist University dances in the stands during a timeout in quarter final match of the NCAA Division II West Regional volleyball championships at Cal Baptist University Thursday in Riverside, CA. November 30, 2017. (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)
Cal Baptist University’s Sydney Marks (4) gets the kill over Sonoma State University Kelsey McIntire (2) in quarter final match of the NCAA Division II West Regional volleyball championships at Cal Baptist University Thursday in Riverside, CA. November 30, 2017. (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)
Cal Baptist University’s Lauren Hackett (7) tries to block Sonoma State University Kelsey McIntire (2) shot in quarter final match of the NCAA Division II West Regional volleyball championships at Cal Baptist University Thursday in Riverside, CA. November 30, 2017. (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)
Cal Baptist University’s Sydney Marks (4) gets the kill over Sonoma State University Kelsey McIntire (2) in quarter final match of the NCAA Division II West Regional volleyball championships at Cal Baptist University Thursday in Riverside, CA. November 30, 2017. (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)
Cal Baptist University’s Sydney Marks (4) gets the kill over Sonoma State University Kelsey McIntire (2) in quarter final match of the NCAA Division II West Regional volleyball championships at Cal Baptist University Thursday in Riverside, CA. November 30, 2017. (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)
Cal Baptist University’s Lauren Hackett (7) gets the kill against Sonoma State University in quarter final match of the NCAA Division II West Regional volleyball championships at Cal Baptist University Thursday in Riverside, CA. November 30, 2017. (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)
Cal Baptist University’s Yagoda Jedrzejczak (10) gets the kill against Sonoma State University in quarter final match of the NCAA Division II West Regional volleyball championships at Cal Baptist University Thursday in Riverside, CA. November 30, 2017. (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)
Cal Baptist University’s Mckenna Witt (1) hits over the block of Sonoma State University Caiti Wiesner (21) in quarter final match of the NCAA Division II West Regional volleyball championships at Cal Baptist University Thursday in Riverside, CA. November 30, 2017. (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)
Cal Baptist University’s Mckenna Witt (1) hits over the block of Sonoma State University Caiti Wiesner (21) in quarter final match of the NCAA Division II West Regional volleyball championships at Cal Baptist University Thursday in Riverside, CA. November 30, 2017. (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)
in quarter final match of the NCAA Division II West Regional volleyball championships at Cal Baptist University Thursday in Riverside, CA. November 30, 2017. (TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG)
RIVERSIDE — “Welcome,” Branden Higa said, “to the NCAA Tournament.”
Higa is the coach of Cal Baptist’s volleyball Lancers. The undefeated Lancers. The No. 1 in Division II Lancers.
And, for a good portion of Thursday night, the reeling-on-the-ropes Lancers, trying to avoid a knockout in the first round of the West Regional.
They succeeded, ultimately, going five sets to subdue a Sonoma State team that, as coach Bear Grassi described it, plays sort of a funky style and can be difficult to play against.
“Like Boise State vs. Oklahoma,” he said.
Unfortunately for Grassi, a game-deciding Statue of Liberty play wasn’t available Thursday night.
It was maybe some time in the third set that the Lancers regained their equilibrium, cutting down on errors and serving more consistently, and it was the fourth when they really began to assert themselves.
The final score was 21-25, 25-23, 26-28, 18-25, 15-9, and it was an 8-1 run that set them up in the fourth set and an 8-0 run — including three critical kills by freshman Sydney Marks — that propelled them to a 12-4 lead in the fifth and, ultimately, a date with Cal State San Bernardino in Friday night’s semifinals.
This was probably to be expected. CBU, now 29-0, had blitzed people all season. The Lancers had been taken to five sets once, by Biola, and had lost only two sets in the entire month of November, a span of seven PacWest matches, before Thursday night.
“Through conference play, and especially recently, it wasn’t the same feeling of, ‘Oh, we’re going to need to battle back and forth,’ ” CBU outside hitter Lauren Hackett said. “It’s not that it came easy, but we were never put to the test really in recent games.
“Tonight there was a little bit of frazzledness. We started understanding that this is going to be tough. But it’s what we like, what we thrive on … After the initial ‘This isn’t going to be easy,’ it switched to, ‘What do we have to do to get this win?’ We got back to that mental steadiness.”
Is “frazzledness” a word? It is now.
And part of combating that mindset is to take some deep breaths and reset. Higa talked earlier in the week about how his team got rattled momentarily after losing a set at Cal State Dominguez Hills in September, and how that experience taught them that to right the ship, “it’s not a bunch of players yelling at each other and getting crazy, it’s looking together and asking each other to do their jobs and have each others’ back.”
Relaxing, Hackett said, is a good word for it.
“A lot of skills in volleyball, you don’t need to be 100 percent tensed up,” she said. “Passing, getting stops on defense, are things that require a lot of mental focus but not exertion. I think that helps you relax.
“When you play uptight, you start making errors; when you’re swinging out, hitting it as hard as you can. When you play relaxed, you get kills because that’s what we do.”
For what it’s worth, the Lancers’ attack errors went down from six in the first set to five in the second, four each in the third and fourth and three in the shorter fifth set.
Now comes a different test. The Lancers and Coyotes played in the second week of the season, Sept. 9 in Anchorage in the West Region Showcase, and CBU swept 25-19, 25-11, 25-9. The Lancers at that point were already on their game; CSUSB was dealing with some injuries, most notably to setter Jayann DeHoog, but has won 12 straight and 16 of 18 itself.
Grassi, whose Sonoma team beat CSUSB in four sets on the first weekend of conference play in Rohnert Park, broke down the matchup.
“I think if San Bernardino does a better job than we did of staying composed all the way to the end” it’ll have a better chance of winning, he said. “I think we lost our composure down the stretch. The stress got to us and we got tired. I thought we did a pretty good job with Hackett, considering, and I thought we did a pretty good job with the right side twins (McKenna and Madison Witt), but we couldn’t contain them forever.
“San Bernardino’s got issues because their setter (DeHoog, at 5-foot-7) is small, and that’s obviously going to be a problem against the length Cal Baptist has. Conversely, if San Bernardino can run the middle, (Hailey) Jackson is a very talented attacker and it’s going to take a lot of resources. Cal Baptist’s middles aren’t huge, and she’s a big kid (6-3).
“To beat Cal Baptist, you have to hit it in. We struggled with that in the fourth, because they’re not going to make errors. We just have to maintain hitting it in with pace, and playing defense as well as we play defense. I thought we fought the whole match long.”
Bottom line: On the first day of the eight-team tournament, things played according to form. The second and third seeds, Western Washington and Northwest Nazarene, will play in the early semifinal Friday, and then the first and fourth seeds, the Lancers and Coyotes, will play for a spot in the finals.
And bragging rights, too. The County Line Cup may not actually exist, but it might as well. CBU and CSUSB players know each other well and played together in open gym last summer.
“We got to know them,” Hackett said. “They’re really sweet. We had a really good time scrimmaging against them.”
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