By Monica Lee
BroncoAthletics.com
POMONA, Calif. - Taylr Kreutziger finished with a career-high hitting percentage of .615 to lead to Cal Poly Pomona's 3-0 win over Simon Fraser Clan during the Cal Poly Pomona Volleyball Tournament Saturday.
“Our overall play was better and we had consistent high energy throughout the match,” junior middle blocker Kreutziger said. “Our play definitely matured throughout the match.”
Coming off a tough 3-2 loss to Western New Mexico, the Broncos put their game faces on to win their first game against SFU, 25-19, with 14 kills and two service aces.
Game two was no different. The impressive attack from the hosts continued, as 19 kills in the frame paired with a hitting average of .667 contributed to a Broncos' seven-point run late in the game. The spurt fueled the Broncos' energy to take a 25-13 decision.
SFU tried to fight back in game three with strong attacking from Kristin Bauder, but was unable to stop CPP's .346 hitting average. Junior outside hitter
Diana Lake finished with 12 kills in the match to lead the Broncos in that category. Senior outside hitter
Karissa Lagmay added nine kills and Kreutziger had eight.
The Broncos' sweep over SFU brought excitement and anticipation as they start conference play next week.
“We look forward to getting on the road and showing what we've got,” said Kreutziger on starting league action Friday against UC San Diego.
|
Scoreboard |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
F |
Western New Mexico (2-1)
|
25 |
13 |
18 |
25 |
15 |
3 |
Cal Poly Pomona (2-1)
|
17 |
25 |
25 |
14 |
12 |
2 |
Top Performers
|
|
|
|
|
Western New Mexico
|
No. |
Statistic |
Cal Poly Pomona |
No. |
Marilee Frost
|
21 |
Digs |
K. Colin & E. Noriega
|
11 |
|
Alyssa Melhack |
46 |
Assists |
Katie Colin
|
47 |
|
Angelina Pulu |
17 |
Kills |
K. Lagmay & K. McNeese
|
13 |
|
Alyssa Melhack |
.600 |
Hitting Percentage
|
Katie Colin |
.429 |
|
Johnston & Verhulsdonk |
3 |
Blocks |
Lauren Jones
|
5 |
In likely the most entertaining match of the seven-team tournament, the Broncos suffered a 3-2 heartbreaking loss early Saturday afternoon to Western New Mexico.
CPP rallied from a 1-0 deficit to win two-straight sets and take a 2-1 lead, but the hosts couldn't hold off a Mustangs' attack led by 17 kills from Long Beach native Angelina Pulu.
The two squads traded points for much of the final set, until WNMU captured four of the last five points to take the five-set victory. The Broncos continued to feature a balanced attack, as
Kristin McNeese, Lagmay, Kreutziger and
Ashley Marshman collected double-digit kill totals. Marshman and Kreutziger contributed hitting percentages of .421 and .417 respectively.
After the Mustangs took the first set, 25-17, and CPP captured the second set, 25-13, the third frame proved to be more tightly contested. The Broncos took an early lead but WNMU managed to tie the score at 11-11. The host's defense tightened up at that point, especially when back-to-back attacks from the Mustangs were stopped by the front line of Marshman, McNeese and
Lauren Jones. That defensive stand put CPP ahead 15-12, the middle of a 9-0 run for the Broncos while Colin served. CPP ended the set with the score 25-18 in its favor.
WNMU put together long spurts of its own in the fourth set but saw the runs cut short because of the team's own service errors. Nonetheless, the Mustangs stole the momentum and eventually forced a fifth set.
Pulu took over the match in the fifth set, registering six kills out of the visitors' 15 points. WNMU improved to 2-1 with the result, while the Broncos dropped to 2-1.
