Oct. 22, 2008
Box Score
Bakersfield, Calif. - The Pacific women's volleyball team suffered a 3-1 loss to Cal State Bakersfield on Wednesday, Oct. 22.
The loss dropped the Tigers to 5-12 on the season, while Cal State Bakersfield moved to 12-10 overall.
Set scores for the match: 13-25, 25-22. 25-21. 25-18.
The Tigers hit the floor smoking in the first set as Pacific raced out to a 10-2 lead, led by an ace from senior Natalia Tomaszewska (Marklowice, Poland) and two kills from sophomore Svenja Engelhardt (Sinsheim, Germany). Pacific stretched its lead to as much as 12 points at 22-10 and went on to take the first set, 25-13. The Tigers hit .417 with 14 kills and four errors on 24 attempts in set number one, while Cal State Bakersfield posted a .091 mark with seven kills and five errors on 22 swings.
As expected, Cal State Bakersfield responded with a much more competitive effort in the second set. The two teams battled through several early ties, but the Road Runners garnered an 18-14 lead midway through the set. Pacific came roaring back with five of the next six points to tie things up at 19-19. The Tigers rally got rolling thanks to two Road Runners' errors, then senior Alexa Anderson (Los Gatos, Calif.) posted a solo block to make it 19-18. The Tigers pulled even via a bad set from Cal State Bakersfield's Barbie Thistle, then junior Mallori Gibson (Bakersfield, Calif.) gave Pacific the lead at 20-19 with a cross-court kill.
The Road Runners, however, answered the challenge raised by Pacific with back-to-back points to reclaim the lead at 21-20. A kill down the line from Anderson brought the set to its 12th and final tie. With the set on the line, Cal State Bakersfield rose up to take four of the final five points and send the teams to the locker rooms tied at one set with a 25-22 win.
Describing the third set as a roller coaster is an understatement at best. Cal State Bakersfield appeared to take control early as the Road Runners busted out to a 15-4 lead. No one, however, told Pacific the set was supposed to be over. Pacific head coach Charlie Wade went to his bench, inserting junior setter Olivia Riley (Agua Dulce, Calif.). Engelhardt got the Tigers control of the serve with a cross-court kill on the ensuing point, sending herself to the service line down 15-5. Engelhardt delivered one of the single best runs from the service lines in Pacific history as the Tigers scored the next 10 points to tie up the set at 15-15. Tomaszewska and Riley get things rolling on a block from the right side, then Anderson swatted down back-to-back kills to make it 15-8. A kill in the middle from Tomaszewska brought about the first timeout from Cal State Bakersfield head coach John Price.
Coming out of the break, Engelhardt's tough serves forced the Road Runners into three straight errors, capped by another block from Tomaszewska and Riley to make it 15-12 and bring about the second timeout from Price. The Tigers capped their run behind Tomaszewska's second kill of the set, followed by back-to-back aces from Engelhardt to tie the score at 15-15. Moments later at 16-16, it was the Road Runners turn to make another run. Cal State Bakersfield scored the next six consecutive points to claim a 21-16 lead. Not surprisingly, Pacific answered with three straight on a kill from junior Masha Vaysburg (Livermore, Calif.), an ace from Riley and a kill by Anderson to make it 21-19. Pacific's comeback, however, ran out of steam as Cal State Bakersfield took the third set, 25-21.
The third set hangover sent Pacific into another hold as the Tigers dropped eight of the first nine points in the fourth set. Down 8-1, the Tigers once again rallied. This time the Pacific scored 10 of the next 14 points to get within one at 12-11. Engelhardt led the charge again with three kills during the run, but Cal State Bakersfield kept the Tigers at bay and went on to take the set and the match with a 25-18 win in the fourth set.
The key stat during the final two sets was the Tigers' inability to side out. Pacific converted just 20 of 49 opportunities to side out in sets three and four.
Anderson and Engelhardt led the Tigers with 13 kills each in the loss, while Gibson finished with 11 kills.
Sarah Norman led the Road Runners with 10 digs, but the key to the victory was the play of Mystie McNaughton, who finished with a match-high 28 digs.
Pacific returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 25 as the Tigers travel to Long Beach, Calif. to face off with Long Beach State.
