Scorpions Overpowered
by California Baptist, 3-0,
But Still in Good Position
Posted November 28, 2007
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- California Baptist University showed the UTB/TSC Scorpions California style of volleyball.

Behind one of the nation's top attackers Verania Willis, Cal-Baptist dominated the Scorpions, 3-0, in a Pool B match at the NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championship Tournament here Wednesday, November 28.

But despite the loss, the 12th-seeded Scorpions are in good shape to advance into the field of 10 teams, but need to win at 3:45 p.m. Thursday against 19th-seeded University of Virginia-Wise.

A 3-1 victory over ninth-seeded Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho) was huge for the Scorpions (34-8) earlier Wednesday.

"Although we lost to Cal Baptist, we are still in good shape to advance out of our pool," Scorpion head coach Marcus Young said. "But we have to get our intensity level up again against Virginia-Wise to win and advance."

The 20 tournament teams have been divided into five pools of four teams each, guaranteeing every team that attends three matches at the national tournament.

Two teams from each pool will advance to a field of 10 teams that will play Friday. Four teams play first-round games Friday morning, with the winners advancing to the quarterfinals Friday afternoon and evening. The semifinals are scheduled Saturday morning and the championship match is scheduled at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

All Scorpion matches will be audio webcast through the Scorpion Athletics website at http://athletics.utb.edu.

California Baptist 3, Scorpions 0 (30-25, 30-16, 30-21)

Willis, ranked No. 3 in the nation in kills with a 5.85 per game average, was unstoppable. The 6-0 senior from Limon, Costa Rica was the best player the Scorpions have seen all year, collecting 30 kills in three games, including 13 in the first game alone. She had six errors out of 44 attacks for a .545 hitting percentage.

It was one of the rare times that the Scorpions faced a stronger team at the net. The Lancers had five players on the roster taller than 6-0, and five more 5-10 or 5-11. Shi Fei, a 6-2 sophomore from Yingling, China, had 17 kills and Yudelka Bonilla added 11. Kayla Van Duyn had 55 assists in three games.

The Scorpions were held to their lowest offensive output in the first 3-0 loss of the season.

Claudia Alarcon, Talita Milasauskas, and Katie Japp had eight kills each, and setter Daianarah Bracero had 24 assists.

Scorpions 3, Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho) 1 (28-30, 30-28, 30-22, 30-25)

The Scorpions were seeded 12th in the 20-team tournament and the Warriors from Lewiston, Idaho, were seeded ninth, so a win over a higher seed was essential to the Scorpions' success at nationals.

Alarcon, Milasauskas, Japp and Bracero played at a championship level to lead the Scorpions. Alarcon had 26 kills and 10 digs, Milasauskas had 20 kills and eight digs, and Japp had 17 kills and seven digs. Bracero had 66 assists and five kills.

"We came out a little tight in the first game," Scorpion coach Marcus Young said. "We made a lot of unforced errors, especially in the first game. But we came back strong. We all knew that this match would determine our success in this tournament."

The Scorpions hit a very respectable .331, led by Japp at .433, Alarcon at .412, Milasauskas at .333 and Bracero at .308.