Cal Poly Pomona 3, Point Loma Nazarene 2
Sept. 6, 2012 | Darlene May Gym | Pomona, Calif.
Box Score: Interactive | HTML Season Statistics: HTML |
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Cal Poly Pomona (3-3)
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Point Loma Nazarene (1-4)
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POMONA, Calif. – The powerful hits of
Diana Lake and the scrappy digs of
Kelly Bonja stood out Thursday but Cal Poly Pomona's two wins certainly centered around a team effort.
In the early afternoon, the Broncos picked up a 3-0 sweep of Azusa Pacific while hitting efficiently in the first two games before squeeking out a 31-29 marathon game three for the win.
During the evening matchup against Point Loma Nazarene, CPP battled back from a 2-1 deficit to take a five-game thriller. Lake finished with a career-high 24 kills, including five in the deciding frame. That mark of 24 is the most for a Bronco since Lake's former teammate,
Kristin McNeese, tallied 26 in 2009.
The Broncos, owning a 3-3 record so far this season, will return to action Friday with a 4 p.m. matchup against Cal State San Marcos (11-3) at Darlene May Gym. For more information on the tournament co-hosted by CPP and Cal State L.A., go to
www.broncoathletics.com/tournament.
Cal Poly Pomona 3, Azusa Pacific 0
The Broncos steadily built up a sizeable lead in the first game of their home opener Thursday afternoon against APU. As a team, CPP hit .478 in that first frame with
Katie Colin and
Nicoletta Stork working well at the setter position. The first game went in favor of the Broncos by a score of 25-18.
The second game finished at the same tally, 25-18, but it proved to be a bit more challenging for CPP. The Cougars' Ashley Vander Tuig hit effectively throughout the match, posting an attack percentage of .643. Back-to-back kills from her in the middle of the second game brought APU back to within two. Behind the strong hitting of
Jessica Doerner and
Lauren Jones late in the game though, the Broncos pulled away for another 25-18 score.
The third game featured a back-and-forth struggle between the two teams as CPP was looking to pull out the sweep and the visiting Cougars were looking to extend the match. APU built up a 16-11 lead but the Broncos pulled ahead minutes later on two-straight service aces from freshman
Zoe Herrera.
The Cougars held a 24-23 edge at one point and it proved to be one of five match points that the host CPP squad overcame. Ultimately, a number of Broncos contributed kills late in game three to lift CPP to a crazy 31-29 win that capped off the 3-0 sweep.
Cal Poly Pomona 3, Point Loma Nazarene 2
In game one of the Thursday evening matchup between the Broncos and Sea Lions, CPP fell into a 10-5 hole at the start. The Broncos managed to take over the lead at 17-16 after a left-handed kill from Stork in the middle. PLNU seized the advantage once again shortly after as McKensey Wise delivered a key block and an important kill in the final points to help the Sea Lions take the 25-23 win in game one.
The Broncos took control in the second game behind a team hitting performance of .440. Freshman
Alexa Hasen contributed kills at crucial times in the frame and through the match, she tallied 10 kills while committing zero errors for a hitting percentage of .476.
As the Sea Lions looked to snag some momentum on a long rally at 22-17, Bonja came through some diving digs before
Lauren Jones lined a kill down the right line to give CPP more breathing room. A fellow first-year,
Brianna Thierjung, registered her first career kill on the penultimate point of the game before the Broncos wrapped up the 25-20 result to even the game score at 1-1.
Service errors plagued both teams in the third game but PLNU used a 6-0 run at the start of the frame to maintain a sizeable lead throughout. The Sea Lions managed to hold CPP to a .185 hitting percentage and took the game by a score of 25-18.
Lake and Hasen powered the Broncos' offense in the fourth game, which was back-and-forth throughout until the final few points when CPP took over. Bonja served the Broncos through that stretch as CPP took the 25-17 victory to force a fifth game.
In the final frame, the Sea Lions almost turned into a one-person team with Kelli LeClair leading the way. The powerful hitter collected nine kills in the fifth game and finished with 32 in the match on 66 attempts. It wasn't enough though as everyone on the CPP squad contributed to pull out the win. From
Erin Noriega rolling a serve off the net for an ace to Herrera using her quick reflexes to keep a play alive before another Lake kill, the Broncos pulled out a 16-14 result to secure their second win of the day.
