Archives: Lancer Highlights

A new athletics season means a host of exciting new events coming to California Baptist University. Each year, Lancer fans are offered a unique game-day experience and this year is no different.

CBU starts the year off with a bang, as it hosts half of the inaugural GNAC-PacWest Volleyball Crossover Tournament, along with Dominican, Sept. 11th through the 13th. Outside of potentially hosting a postseason tournament, it stands to be the largest event of the year for the Lancers.

California Baptist University will also host its second outdoor wrestling meet of the season, as well. After sweeping all three matches of their tri-dual outdoor tournament in 2013-14, the Lancers will take it outside when they host Stanford on Saturday, Nov. 1 at 1 p.m.

CBU’s grapplers arguably put together their finest season last year. The Lancers had three Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and Division II Super West Region champions, five NCAA Division II Championship qualifiers and three All-Americans. As a team, CBU finished runner-up in its conference and the region and defeated two Division I institutions. CBU will have another opportunity to make a statement to the wrestling world on Nov. 1 against the Stanford Cardinal.

The GNAC-PacWest Crossover can serve as a make-or-break three days for the eight teams in attendance at CBU (Alaska-Anchorage, Azusa Pacific, Central Washington, Dixie State, Northwest Nazarene, Point Loma and Western Washington). Six of those teams were in the final NCAA Division II West Region top-10 rankings at the end of 2013, which means the tournament will likely give each squad an early taste of the playoffs.

Five to six matches will be played each day at CBU, starting as early as 9 a.m. with the final match scheduled as late as 8:30 p.m.

Less than a week later, CBU women’s volleyball will take a pause during its conference match with Fresno Pacific on Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. to receive and celebrate its second PacWest Commissioner’s Cup in three years.

The Lancers won the Commissioner’s Cup, which is given to the most dominant program in the conference based on average finish in conference-sponsored sports, after winning three PacWest Conference Championships (men’s cross country, men’s basketball and softball) in 2013-14. CBU locked up top-three finishes in all seven other of its cup-eligible sports last year.

Finally a fully-fledged member of the NCAA, the 2013-14 athletic campaigns took on a new meaning at California Baptist University. The Lancer athletic programs completed their transition to the NCAA Division II on July 12, 2013 and had five programs join conferences for the first time. Both the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams joined the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, along with wrestling, while men’s and women’s water polo linked up with the Western Water Polo Association and Golden Coast Conference, respectively.

In all, CBU claimed four conference titles and had 12 of 19 eligible teams qualify for the NCAA postseason on their first shot. With 10 top-three finishes from 11 PacWest teams, the Lancers claimed the PacWest Commissioner’s Cup for the second time in three years. Men’s basketball, softball, men’s cross country and women’s swimming secured conference crowns for CBU in 2013-14, while the Lancers also earned their first NCAA championship in individual competition with swimmer Mary Hanson.

In the fall, both the men’s and women’s cross country and soccer teams qualified for the NCAA postseason for the first time. Men’s cross country won its third-straight PacWest title and went on to place 22nd in Division II, while the women took third in the PacWest and took ninth at the Division II West Regional.  Women’s soccer finished runner-up in the PacWest with a 12-5-1, 10-2 in conference record, and men’s soccer took third in the PacWest with a 10-6-1, 9-3 in conference record. Women’s volleyball put together a winning season (17-11, 14-6) and men’s water polo went 15-17, 0-5 in the WWPA in its first season in a conference.

In the winter, history was made and two conference championships were claimed. Men’s basketball, both swimming squads and wrestling qualified for the NCAA postseason, while women’s basketball came up one game shy.  Men’s basketball put together a historic run under first-year coach Rick Croy, with a program-best 16-game winning streak to open the season. The team went on to win the PacWest championship and finished the year with a 24-4, 18-2 in conference record. Women’s basketball took third in the PacWest regular-season standings before advancing to the conference tournament championship game and finishing the year with a 16-12, 13-7 mark.  Wrestling won a program-high 11 duals with an 11-4-1, 3-1 record, took second in the RMAC and Division II Super Region IV, 12th in Division II, and had five wrestlers advance to the Division II Championships, with three earning All-American honors. Women’s and men’s swimming finished first and second in the RMAC, respectively, while combining for six All-American finishes at the NCAA Championships. The women’s swim team finished 9^th overall in Division II, the highest team finish for the year.

Like in the winter, there was more history to be made and a conference championship to be won in the spring. Softball claimed a share of the PacWest championship and advanced to the championship game of the NCAA Division II West Regional I tournament before ending the year with a 46-13, 27-5 in conference record. Baseball set a program-best winning streak of 24 games by winning its first 15 games of 2014 and last nine of 2013, while also earning 11-year coach Gary Adcock’s 400th win with the Lancers. The team went on to take second in the PacWest and qualified for the West Regional tournament before ending their run with a 39-15, 20-12 mark.

 

CBU cheer continued its run of dominance, as it completed a two-year undefeated stretch with repeat championships at the National Cheerleading Association Collegiate Cheer Nationals. Both golf teams qualified for the NCAA playoffs, with the women winning four tournaments en route to a runner-up finish in the PacWest. The team took sixth at the West Regional tournament and saw Tina Yang qualify for the Division II Championships and place in the top-10 overall. The men’s golf squad posted three top-five finishes at tournaments this year, including a fifth-place performance at the PacWest Championships that helped it punch its ticket to the West Regional. The men’s and women’s track teams took fourth and fifth, respectively, at the PacWest Championships and combined for 10 all-conference finishes and four individual PacWest championships. Women’s water polo finished the year at 21-11, 3-3, and took fourth place in the Golden Coast Conference standings and fifth in the conference tournament. Men’s volleyball completed a tough trek through the ultra-competitive Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, ending the year with a 4-24, 2-22 record.

Softball: Alumni did not let the rainy Saturday dampen their spirits on January 26. The scheduled alumni game was cancelled, but they still had fun with a luncheon and social in the Van Dyne Gymnasium.

Baseball: Due to rain, the Baseball Alumni Day was rescheduled to April 6 as CBU hosted Azusa Pacific University in a double-header.  The Alumni joined in a pre-game lunch reception full of fun activities for their families. The alumni were honored on the field in between games as they cheered on the CBU Lancers. View photos…

Men’s Soccer: Alumni enjoyed an intense game with the current men’s soccer team on March 23. The game was followed by lunch in the Alumni Dining Commons where the current team members and alumni were able to connect.

Women’s Soccer: A great turn-out for the Women’s Soccer program as many alumni and current athletes faced off in a full length game on April 13. The field was flooded with alumni at the end of the game as they were determined to win. The alumni then joined a luncheon social held at the women’s soccer team room. View photos…

Baseball wins the PacWest Conference Title and NCCAA National Title

 The Lancers won the PacWest title in dramatic fashion with a pair of walk-off wins in a doubleheader sweep at home against Point Loma. Five days later, the Lancers came out of the losers’ bracket to beat Fresno Pacific University twice in one day to win the NCCAA West Region title.

Just seven days after, it all culminated in what has to be one of the most dominating NCCAA World Series runs ever as the Lancers put the final cap on a 6-0 tournament with a 7-0 win over Southeastern to win the 2013 NCCAA World Series, their second straight national championship. The Lancers become the first team to repeat since Dallas Baptist University in 2004. Read more….

 

  Men’s Volleyball Climb as High as #5 in the Nation

 With two wins over UCLA, two wins over Hawaii, a win over USC and a win over the defending and eventual national champ UC Irvine, the Lancers ranked amongst the top five teams in the nation for the first time in program history.

Capping an incredible entry into the MPSF and NCAA Division I-II play this season, Levi Cabral was named to the AVCA NCAA D I-II All-American first team. The honor puts Cabral in a class with the 10 best players in the country, as he becomes the first Lancer named to the team. Already having earned All-MPSF honors this season, Cabral was also a two-time NAIA All-American during his career. He is the first player ever to earn first team honors in both the NAIA and NCAA D I-II. Read more…

Women’s Basketball – Conference Champs!

       A season ago California Baptist University fell one game short of a conference title, losing on the last day of the regular season. With nine seniors and a plethora of PacWest experience there was no way the 2013 Lancers were going to let that happen again.
It is the third conference championship in program history and first since 1990 for the Lancers. The win also gave CBU an 11-game winning streak to close the regular season. Read more…

 

 

 CBU Names Croy as Head Men’s   Basketball Coach

 California Baptist University Director of Athletics Dr. Micah Parker has announced Rick Croy as the Lancers’ new men’s basketball head coach. Croy, who becomes the 12th coach in program history, spent the past three years as the lead assistant coach at NCAA Division I St. Mary’s. During his time working under Head Coach Randy Bennett, the Gaels went 80-22 overall, winning two regular-season West Coast Conference championships and making two NCAA Tournament appearances. Read more…

 

Best of the Best- Esquerra

Zach Esquerra’s dream season reached a new level Wednesday when the California Baptist University slugger was named the 2013 Rawlings/American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) NCAA Division II National Player of the Year. Read more…

 

 
 

Wrestling

 Zach Merrill became California Baptist University’s first ever placer at the Cliff Keen Invitational . The 2012 Cliff Keen Invitational was stacked with seven of the top-10 NCAA Division I teams in the country.  It was the toughest invite on the schedule for CBU. Read more…

 

 

CBU Joins Golden Coast Conference

California Baptist University will be one of seven universities from the state of California to form a new collegiate women’s water polo conference that will begin competition in the spring of 2014.