Looking For a Fast Start
Over the last two seasons, more than 63 percent of California Baptist University’s eligible athletic programs have qualified for the NCAA Division II postseason. The Lancers will look to their six fall programs to set the pace for more success on the conference and national levels in 2015-16. Four fall sports advanced to the NCAA playoffs in their first shot in 2013-14, and the Lancers will look to improve on that feat two years later.
Both men’s and women cross country have qualified for the Division II postseason the last two years, with both programs sweeping the PacWest Championships last year. CBU will open 2015-16 at home with the Lancer Invitational at the Riverside City Cross Country Course at 5 p.m. on Friday. It will be one of three rare home opportunities to see CBU in Riverside this season, with the CBU Invitational (Oct. 3rd) and PacWest Championships (Oct. 24th) taking place at the Riverside City Cross Country Course, as well.
The men are looking to win their fifth-straight PacWest title and advance out of the West Region tournament for the third season in a row. The women aim at a repeat performance in the PacWest and to reach the Division II Championships for the first time.
In the gym, women’s volleyball was picked to win the PacWest in the conference’s preseason poll after a 16-12, 12-8 in conference run in 2014. The Lancers return all but two regular contributors from last season, including three All-PacWest players and the reigning PacWest, West Region and Division II Freshman of the Year determined by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
For the second year in a row, CBU will open up at Cal State East Bay’s Route 92 Tournament, followed by a trip to Seattle Pacific for the GNAC-PacWest Crossover. The Lancers open up the conference and home season simultaneously when it hosts Dixie State at 7 p.m. on Sept. 18th.
Women’s soccer opens the year in Bellingham, Wash. with games against Western Washington and Concordia (Ore.) on Thursday and Saturday, respectively. The Lancers will open at home against Sonoma State on Sept. 10th at 3 p.m. The team is looking to build on its 11-4-3 record from 2014 when it took second in the PacWest with a 9-0-3 record and just missed out on the postseason.
After winning its final three contests last year, men’s soccer is determined to carry that momentum over into 2015. CBU is looking to charge back into the playoffs, like it did in 2013, after going 18-15-2 and 16-8 in the PacWest combined over the last two years. Much like the women, the Lancer men will open the season in Washington against Seattle Pacific and Simon Fraser in Seattle on Thursday and Saturday, respectively. Cal State Dominguez Hills comes to the Lancer Soccer Field at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday to kick off the home schedule for CBU.
Men’s water polo is gearing up for a new season with a new coach, Kevin Rosa. The Lancers are coming off a program-best, fourth-place finish in the Western Water Polo Association last year and return many of the players who were key to that success. The team is receiving votes in the Collegiate Water Polo Association’s preseason NCAA top-20 poll and opens the year against No. 2 USC and No. 3 Cal in the Triton Invitational on Saturday at 11:10 a.m. and 3:10 p.m., respectively. CBU will open up at home against UC Irvine on Sept. 16th.