Post by cyberVBmidwest on Apr 15, 2007 11:46:09 GMT -5
SATURDAY IN THE PARK (NAIA Championship)
www.cbulancers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=37549&SPID=3049&DB_OEM_ID=8100&ATCLID=864903
RIVERSIDE, Calif. --- Nearly 1,300 screaming fans, an opponent which had lost just 2 matches all season and 3 previous titles to defend didn’t seem to bother California Baptist Saturday night.
At the risk of sounding cliché, tonight’s battle for the Lancers’ fourth straight NAIA Men’s Volleyball National Invitational looked more like a walk in the Park.
The Lancers hit a blistering .398 (47-14-83) on the evening and held runner-up Park to an anemic .100 (33-24-90) clip in a 30-22, 30-23, 30-21 sweep of the Pirates, whose season record had just 2 blemishes coming into tonight, including one to California Baptist (Jan. 26).
In the Lancers’ second win over Park this season, Donald Baliaba finished with 10 kills and was later crowned the Tournament MVP, an honor that Shamsu Awudu had held in the previous 2 tournaments.
“Our guys know how to prepare themselves, and we executed our game plan to perfection tonight,” said California Baptist head coach Ryan McGuyre, whose team hit .422 for the tournament. “Eric Plunkett gets a ton of credit for our hitting percentage tonight. Over the past 2 weeks, we’ve been preaching that defense wins championships. It’s fun to hit hard, but it’s defense that gets you over the top. Our serving was solid all night and especially hard to return.”
Awudu, who becomes the first player to ever win 4 NAIA titles with the same team rocked a match-high 16 kills in tonight’s championship match and hit a match-best .429 (16-4-28) as teammates Yukai Sun and Plunkett—now a 2-time honoree—earned All-Tournament honors. The Lancers now boast a 16-match winning streak at the invitational.
“Shamsu deferred himself this entire tournament and that says a lot about his character,” said McGuyre. “He’s still our go-to guy, and it showed when he led us in kills tonight. Other guys stepped up throughout the tournament and we were exceptionally balanced all throughout the tournament.”
Awudu polished off his fourth and final title with 5 kills in the final set.
“This one feels better than the other 3,” said Awudu. “It’s a good way to go out on your last game, and it was more satisfying because so many other guys stepped up and I got to sit back and just enjoy this one. This was definitely a team championship.”
Baliaba sent home a trio of vicious kills as the Lancers scored 4 points in a row to break a 7-7 tie in game one. It was Awudu’s turn after that, as the 2005-06 Tournament MVP slammed a kill to put the Lancers ahead 13-11. Baliaba’s kill to make the score 18-13 gave California Baptist its largest lead of the game up until that point, and Urs Gunthor teamed up with Sun for a block to make the score 24-17.
Baliaba again excited the crowd with a perfectly placed nudge over the net, stretching the lead to 27-18. Romain Vetter’s smash of a free ball ended the set at 30-22, as the Lancers battered Park with a .375 (17-5-32) hitting performance compared to Park’s -.062 (7-9-32) clip in the opener.
A pair of Lancer service aces and 3 Park hitting errors mixed in with a Gunthor kill to put the Pirates in an immediate 6-1 hole in game 2, forcing Tournament Coach of the Year Cory Frederick to call a timeout, but California Baptist didn’t let up there, taking a 10-3 lead on Awudu’s seventh kill of the night.
Down, 12-4, the Pirates started on the comeback trail via kills from Henry Uribe and Caio Maciel, who paired up with Ryan Stafford on a block to make the score 12-7. Park shaved the CBU lead down to 17-12, and trailed by a 20-16 margin, but Baliaba launched a kill and served an ace on the next point, as the Lancers ran away with the 30-23 victory.
There was no denying California Baptist its 3-game sweep in the finale, even after the Pirates drew to within one point, at 11-10, on Uribe’s service ace. The Lancers bounced back to capture
7 of the next 8 points, as Gunthor smashed 4 kills in the game to finish with 11 kills on the night.
Uribe ended with 12 kills, while Stafford—who was named to the All-Tournament team—knocked 8 kills. All-Tournament setter J.P. da Silva dished out 32 assists.
“This year has been a great experience all throughout, said McGuyre, who wins his sixth NAIA title—including 2 with the women. “Tonight was the culmination of a great season and I’d have to say that this group had the best chemistry of any team we’ve had here so far.”
All-Tournament Team
Ivan Lugonja – Missouri Baptist
Joe Deimeke – Lindenwood
Ryan Stafford – Park
J.P. da Silva – Park
Yukai Sun – California Baptist
Eric Plunkett – California Baptist
Coach of the Year – Cory Frederick, Park
Most Valuable Player – Donald Baliaba, California Baptist
www.cbulancers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=37549&SPID=3049&DB_OEM_ID=8100&ATCLID=864903
RIVERSIDE, Calif. --- Nearly 1,300 screaming fans, an opponent which had lost just 2 matches all season and 3 previous titles to defend didn’t seem to bother California Baptist Saturday night.
At the risk of sounding cliché, tonight’s battle for the Lancers’ fourth straight NAIA Men’s Volleyball National Invitational looked more like a walk in the Park.
The Lancers hit a blistering .398 (47-14-83) on the evening and held runner-up Park to an anemic .100 (33-24-90) clip in a 30-22, 30-23, 30-21 sweep of the Pirates, whose season record had just 2 blemishes coming into tonight, including one to California Baptist (Jan. 26).
In the Lancers’ second win over Park this season, Donald Baliaba finished with 10 kills and was later crowned the Tournament MVP, an honor that Shamsu Awudu had held in the previous 2 tournaments.
“Our guys know how to prepare themselves, and we executed our game plan to perfection tonight,” said California Baptist head coach Ryan McGuyre, whose team hit .422 for the tournament. “Eric Plunkett gets a ton of credit for our hitting percentage tonight. Over the past 2 weeks, we’ve been preaching that defense wins championships. It’s fun to hit hard, but it’s defense that gets you over the top. Our serving was solid all night and especially hard to return.”
Awudu, who becomes the first player to ever win 4 NAIA titles with the same team rocked a match-high 16 kills in tonight’s championship match and hit a match-best .429 (16-4-28) as teammates Yukai Sun and Plunkett—now a 2-time honoree—earned All-Tournament honors. The Lancers now boast a 16-match winning streak at the invitational.
“Shamsu deferred himself this entire tournament and that says a lot about his character,” said McGuyre. “He’s still our go-to guy, and it showed when he led us in kills tonight. Other guys stepped up throughout the tournament and we were exceptionally balanced all throughout the tournament.”
Awudu polished off his fourth and final title with 5 kills in the final set.
“This one feels better than the other 3,” said Awudu. “It’s a good way to go out on your last game, and it was more satisfying because so many other guys stepped up and I got to sit back and just enjoy this one. This was definitely a team championship.”
Baliaba sent home a trio of vicious kills as the Lancers scored 4 points in a row to break a 7-7 tie in game one. It was Awudu’s turn after that, as the 2005-06 Tournament MVP slammed a kill to put the Lancers ahead 13-11. Baliaba’s kill to make the score 18-13 gave California Baptist its largest lead of the game up until that point, and Urs Gunthor teamed up with Sun for a block to make the score 24-17.
Baliaba again excited the crowd with a perfectly placed nudge over the net, stretching the lead to 27-18. Romain Vetter’s smash of a free ball ended the set at 30-22, as the Lancers battered Park with a .375 (17-5-32) hitting performance compared to Park’s -.062 (7-9-32) clip in the opener.
A pair of Lancer service aces and 3 Park hitting errors mixed in with a Gunthor kill to put the Pirates in an immediate 6-1 hole in game 2, forcing Tournament Coach of the Year Cory Frederick to call a timeout, but California Baptist didn’t let up there, taking a 10-3 lead on Awudu’s seventh kill of the night.
Down, 12-4, the Pirates started on the comeback trail via kills from Henry Uribe and Caio Maciel, who paired up with Ryan Stafford on a block to make the score 12-7. Park shaved the CBU lead down to 17-12, and trailed by a 20-16 margin, but Baliaba launched a kill and served an ace on the next point, as the Lancers ran away with the 30-23 victory.
There was no denying California Baptist its 3-game sweep in the finale, even after the Pirates drew to within one point, at 11-10, on Uribe’s service ace. The Lancers bounced back to capture
7 of the next 8 points, as Gunthor smashed 4 kills in the game to finish with 11 kills on the night.
Uribe ended with 12 kills, while Stafford—who was named to the All-Tournament team—knocked 8 kills. All-Tournament setter J.P. da Silva dished out 32 assists.
“This year has been a great experience all throughout, said McGuyre, who wins his sixth NAIA title—including 2 with the women. “Tonight was the culmination of a great season and I’d have to say that this group had the best chemistry of any team we’ve had here so far.”
All-Tournament Team
Ivan Lugonja – Missouri Baptist
Joe Deimeke – Lindenwood
Ryan Stafford – Park
J.P. da Silva – Park
Yukai Sun – California Baptist
Eric Plunkett – California Baptist
Coach of the Year – Cory Frederick, Park
Most Valuable Player – Donald Baliaba, California Baptist
