POMONA, Calif. – The Cal Poly Pomona volleyball team dropped a four-set match to the 22nd ranked Cal State San Bernardino Coyotes on Thursday. The scores of the sets were 25-13, 26-24, 25-13, and 26-24. Playing the role of visitor to Kellogg Arena, the Coyotes secured the first, third, and fourth set of the match.
The Broncos now hold an overall 11-8 record on the season, complete with a 7-4 mark in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). CSUSB's squad, upon securing the win, carry a 9-2 mark in conference play en route to its overall 16-3 showing thus far in the 2015 season.
Deanna Blaine and
Kristen Hamlin provided the Green and Gold with double-digit kills in the contest, posting 19 and 10, respectively.
Alina Smith and
Nicoletta Stork each tallied at least 20 assists in the match, with Smith at 22 and Stork at 20. Stork also led the Broncos with 11 digs in the contest.
To open things up in the first set off the evening, the visiting nationally-ranked Coyotes tallied a 9-2 run. Though they posted four points to CSUSB's next two, the Broncos were unable to stack together enough points to assemble a comeback. Three more streaks of at least three points in the set gave the Coyotes the advantage with the score at 25-13.
In the second set, the hometown Broncos pushed hard to leave the first set as a distant memory. The CPP squad and the Coyotes traded points through much of the set. The Green and Gold secured a four-point run as their longest continuous point-spree of the set. As a testament to the tenacity of both teams, the scoreboard saw a tie at 16 different points in the set. With the score at 24-24, the final two Bronco points were both on kills from Blaine.
The third set went in the Coyotes' favor, again with a score of 25-13. The Broncos' opposition tallied three five-point runs in the set and answered back nearly every point that CPP posted.
Set four, the final set of the match, again saw the two evenly matched teams of the second set emerge. Much to the same beat as that second set, the fourth set saw 16 score ties. Unfortunately for the Green and Gold, the final two points after the 24-24 tie went in favor of the Coyotes.
CPP will resume play on Sunday at 5 p.m. as they host the UC San Diego Tritons in Kellogg Arena. The UCSD squad secured a four-set victory over the Cal State Monterey Bay Otters on Thursday. They will head to Pomona wih an overall 10-9 mark on the season, complete with a 6-5 showing the in the CCAA.
