Match Information
Score: Lubbock Christian 3, Wayland Baptist 1 (26-24, 19-25, 25-21, 25-9)
Records: LCU (1-0), WBU (3-3)
Location: Rip Griffin Center – Lubbock, Texas
 
Highlights
Lubbock Christian University opened the season at home for the first time since 2008 and they welcomed an old rival from that era: Wayland Baptist. Avery Moore produced 16 kills and LCU produced 11.0 team blocks to open the 2020 season (played in the Spring of 2021) 3-1 Tuesday night inside Rip Griffin Center in a non-conference match against their former Sooner Athletic Conference rivals from the NAIA. LCU also received a double-double from Jalee Sims (34 assists, 14 digs) and 10 kills from Jenna Lyons, who was a A&M-Corpus Christi transfer making her LCU debut. While the match was a season opener for LCU, who improves to 1-0, Wayland Baptist declared the game as a scrimmage under their NAIA guidelines.

How It Happened

Set One:
The opening set featured six lead changes and the score tied on seven occasions, but that was mostly early in the frame. Wayland drew some separation, trailing 10-8, by going on a 6-0 run, which was part of a 9-1 outburst. Paxton Patterson and Shykerra Fanner each had a pair of kills in the run for the Pioneers. An ace by LCU's Maddie DeGuire helped cap a 6-2 LCU run and the Lady Chaps cut the deficit to 19-17. Three straight LCU attack errors shifted the momentum back to WBU, who led 22-17. Hailey Cournoyer had three kills in the opening set, with one cutting the LCU lead to 22-21. It was part of a 4-0 run, which would take a break after the Pioneers had a pair of points to setup set-point at 24-21. WBU was unable to get the clinching point, as LCU's Cournoyer and Jenna Lyons combined for kills and then assisted on a block to setup their own set-point at 25-24. A Pioneer error resulted in the clinching point for LCU at 26-24. Lyons led LCU with four kills and DeGuire finished the set with eight digs. The two teams combined for 44 digs (23 by LCU) and 21 attack errors (11 by LCU).     

Set Two:
Wayland Baptist made sure to not let the same thing happen twice in the second set. The difference in the set was an 11-4 disadvantage in attack errors, as WBU minimized their errors following 10 in the first set. LCU led 9-6 before they produced three consecutive attack errors during a 5-0 run by the Pioneers. Jenna Lyons interrupted the run, but the Pioneers converted the run into an 8-2 run for a 14-10 WBU lead. The Pioneers, with four kills in the set by Tatijana Markic, never let their lead dip below a three-point margin and won the set 25-19.

Set Three:
After 22 attack errors through the first two sets, the Lady Chaps finally settled down and began an offensive rhythm. They had a .273 attack percentage and 14 kills in the set. Sage Chain started the offense in the set with three consecutive kills to ignite an 8-2 LCU run for a 9-4 lead. WBU came back in waves during the set. A 5-1 Pioneers run, cutting LCU's lead to 11-10, was answered by a 4-2 LCU run capped by a Chain kill. WBU then cut LCU's lead to 19-18, but LCU responded closing the set on a 6-3 run. The final point was obtained by a kill from Chain, which was her fifth of the set for a 25-21 set win.  
 
Set Four:
Avery Moore and Kalli Dalland took over in the final set for LCU. Moore had six kills and two blocks, while Dalland had three kills and five blocks, with three solo blocks in the set. LCU had 6.0 team blocks in the set. The Lady Chaps tallied the first five points of the set and jumped out to a 7-1 lead. LCU eventually went on a 10-2 run before closing out the match with a 24-9 set win.
 
Inside the Numbers:
.462 – Kalli Dalland had seven kills on 13 attempts and compiled a .462 attack percentage in her LCU debut. She also produced six blocks (three solo).
3 – Along with 16 kills in the match by Avery Moore, she also posted a career-high three blocks.
5 – Jenna Lyons, Chloe Menard, Kalli Dalland, Zoe Parker, and Sage Post each made their LCU debut.
6 – LCU had 11.0 team blocks in the game. The Lady Chaps had six matches last season in which they had at least 10.0 blocks in the game.
9 – With the win, LCU has improved to 9-3 in home openers since 2008.
10 – Jenna Lyons, making her LCU debut, finished the game with 10 kills and it was one off a career high as a member of the A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders.
26 – Maddie DeGuire had 26 digs in the opener. The total would have tied her second-best total from last season
28 – LCU is 28-14 all-time in season openers and has won 10 of their 13 prior season openers (the win ended a streak of two consecutive season-opening losses).
34 – Jalee Sims, appearing in her 39^th career match, set a career-high mark in assists (34). She had 14 digs to complete her first double-double of her career.
53 – LCU improved to 53-11 all-time against Wayland Baptist. The two programs had not met since the 2015 season.   

Up Next:
LCU remains home Tuesday (Jan. 26), as LCU hosts West Texas A&M for their Lone Star Conference opener. Opening serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside Rip Griffin Center.