Search - by Walt Weber

The Pacific Union College men's volleyball team emerged victorious in an intense five-game match against Sonoma State University last Tuesday night.The match opened with a tribute to senior Pioneers David Rai and Rob Wells, who were each honored at their last home game with a signed volleyball.Outside hitter Scott Eastman set the pace for game one as he pulled off one of the most incredible plays of the season. Jonathan Paden picked up a dig, which deflected high off Steve Dulcich into the stands. Eastman ran from mid-court to outside of the back line and managed to get the ball across the net. A stunned Sonoma team, who thought the ball was irretrievable, lost focus and could not get the ball back over. The crowd went wild as the Pioneers went on from a 12-5 lead to win the set 15-9.In game two, the Pioneers picked up where they left off. Outside hitter David Rai impressed the crowd with strong jump serves, including an ace, to give the Pioneers the lead at 7-4. Rai later brought PUC up 12-4 with a kill from the right side. The Pioneers looked like they were on a three-set victory as they ended the...

Getting a chance to show off a little firepower last Tuesday night, the Pacific Union College men's volleyball team up-ended UC Cal-Maritime's Keelhaulers in 55 minutes, 15-0, 15-7, 15-12. The Pioneers showed both strength and control with a 7-0 lead in the first game, forcing the Keelhaulers to call a time-out. However, the Pioneers kept the pressure on and won the set as Cal-Maritime remained scoreless. The Pioneers took an 11-4 lead in the second game and got fired up with freshman outside hitter Jonathan Paden's back-to-back kills. They took the set 15-7 with ease. The Keelhaulers refused to give up in the third game. Their strategy was to get the ball over the net and make the Pioneers work for their points. This became a difficult task for the Pioneers as passing and hitting errors brought the Keelhaulers closer at 9-13. Cal-Maritime rallied to pull within one, 12-13. But that was as close as they got. Sophomore middle hitter Steve Dulcich banged a kill and aced a serve to win the third game and the match 15-12. The Pioneers were led by Dulcich with five kills and senior Brian Thio with three solo blocks. The Pioneers have a current...