PUC Women’s Volleyball Bounces Back in Dominant Fashion, Sweeps West Coast Baptist at home

By Daniel Morales

Images Courtesy of Abigail Suttan

After suffering back to back losses in NAIA CalPac conference play to Simpson University, the Pacific Union College women's volleyball team (0-2, 1-7 overall) made a promising statement Monday night in their conference home opener, sweeping West Coast Baptist (25-10, 25-10, 25-14) to earn their first win of the season.

The Pioneers looked rejuvenated in front of their home crowd at PUC's Gymnasium, delivering a commanding performance from the opening serve dominating every statistical category, including kills (32-12), service aces (17-0), and hitting percentage (.321 to -.061).

"We've been working hard in practice, focusing on getting our offense and communication together. We're super happy with the win, with a lot of new pieces we've been struggling to gel together but tonight showed us what we're able to do, it'll definitely bring our confidence up." Said team captain and Vacaville native Malia DeCelle.

DeCelle was a key contributor, finishing with six kills on 12 attempts with just one error, good for a .417 hitting percentage over two sets. She also added four service aces and three digs, applying pressure throughout the match on both ends of the court.

"I try to always be a consistent person on the court, try to be a leader and always raise our energy even when we're down. Tonight's win is a good confidence booster going further into conference matches."

Also stepping up in a big way was freshman outside hitter and Benicia High School alumni Kaylie Deweese, who delivered an impressive performance in her home debut. Deweese recorded seven kills on 11 swings with just one error, finishing with a team-best .545 hitting percentage across all three sets.

The Pioneers' serving was especially dominant, leading to 17 service aces which prevented the visitors from finding their rhythm. The result was a rare statistical shutout: zero aces, zero blocks, and zero block assists.

"It was a good start to our week, I'll say that. It definitely feels good to get a win, it's something that both the coaching staff and the girls needed to see," said Andrew Randolph, who is in his first season at the helm of the PUC women's volleyball program. "We are going to have to play Simpson again so while it is 0-2 right now the more competitive and the more we can get our confidence up with other types of games then I think it bodes well for us in the future."

The win gives the Pioneers a much needed confidence boost heading into the heart of their CalPac schedule which includes a jamboree later this week at home. PUC is set to host a double header on Thursday, their first contest will be against Westcliff University (0-2) at 5:00 pm followed by an 8:00 pm showdown against Simpson University (4-0). The Angwin based team will roundup their week facing off against Westcliff University once more at 12:00 pm on Friday.

"Our younger players are stepping up, they usually do their jobs, that wasn't new tonight but I think the difference was a lot more confidence building and execution." Said Randolph who currently counts with 11 new faces on his roster, 9 being freshmen. "They've now seen they have the ability to execute what they've been doing so well during practices. I'm hoping that consistency and energy continues throughout the rest of our week."