SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – The Cal Poly Pomona volleyball team gave Cal State San Bernardino a tough test Friday but the Coyotes still walked away victorious with a 3-1 result.
San Bernardino took the first game 25-20 before the Broncos battled back to even the score 1-1 with a 25-17 win in the second frame.
The pivotal third game featured a tremendous back-and-forth struggle before the Coyotes squeeked out the 28-26 victory. CPP nearly forced a fifth game but San Bernardino took the fourth, 25-23, to close out the home win.
Four Broncos finished with double-digit kill totals led by
Jessica Doerner's 16.
Taylr Kreutziger and
Lauren Jones put together effective hitting nights as they combined for 21 of the team's 59 kills while committing just five errors between the pair.
Freshman setter
Nicoletta Stork also starred for CPP on Friday as she recorded a season-high 31 assists to help the Broncos' attack gain momentum. Senior
Diana Lake played well defensively, matching her season best in digs with 19 while also adding 15 kills on offense.
The Coyotes jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first game with the first three points coming off Alexandra Torline kills. San Bernardino held a lead throughout that first game and took the frame by a score of 25-20.
The visiting CPP squad reversed the momentum in the second game as the Broncos turned a 6-3 deficit into an 8-6 lead with five-straight serves from senior libero
Kelly Bonja. In that stretch, freshman
Christen Williams added a block assist and a block solo. CPP closed out the game with kills from Williams and Doerner along with a service ace by Stork.
The third game featured 11 occasions of the score being tied and the Coyotes had a game-point situation at 24-23. The Broncos battled back and actually had two game-point situations of their own at 25-24 and 26-25. Nevertheless, San Bernardino finished the frame with three-straight points to take the dramatic 28-26 win in that game.
The fourth and final game proved to be closely contested as well but in the end, Torline lifted the Coyotes' attack down the stretch and helped the host squad take the 25-23 result in that frame to wrap up the 3-1 win.
The Broncos will now shift their focus to Saturday's 7 p.m. road match at 24th-ranked UC San Diego.
