POMONA, Calif. – Another successful Pack the Arena night is in the books as the Cal Poly Pomona volleyball team earns the 3-0 win over Cal State San Marcos. The final score in the sets was 25-21, 25-23, and 28-26.
With the victory, the Broncos move into a second-place tie in conference as they improve to an overall 9-6 thus far on the season, complete with a stellar 5-2 in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) play. The Cougars of CSUSM, who entered their first season in the CCAA this year have thus far recorded a 4-12 season tally, while securing one win in eight matches in conference play.
CPP had some strong play Friday as they were led by
Deanna Blaine who posted 17 kills in the match. There were two other members of the Green and Gold who registered double-digit points as newcomer
Kristen Hamlin posted 12 with an attack percentage of .348 and
Nicoletta Stork provided the Broncos with 11 kills of her own. The most efficient CPP squad member on court was
Christen Williams who produced seven kills with a .417 attack percentage.
As if having stellar offensive showing wasn't enough, the Broncos' defense was lights out as well. Three members of the Green and Gold squad had double-digit digs as they were led by
Samantha Figueroa who earned 26. Following Figueroa was
Zoe Herrera with 19 and
Alina Smith with 15 of her own.
CPP won the first set 25-21. They did so after leading off the set on a 6-1 run that gave the Cougars a little "welcome to the CCAA". The next bit of scoring was relatively evenly matched as the visitors found their groove and fought back, pulling the score up to 11-7 in the Broncos' favor.
After the Broncos' initial 6-1 run, neither team was able to piece together more than a three-point spree without getting interrupted by the opposition. The final two points in the set for the Broncos came on a Cougar service error and a Stork kill.
Entering the second set, the Broncos would again go on a bit of a run as they posted five points to the Cougars two. CSUSM came back and posted three points of their own though and evened things up at five. Not to be outdone, the Green and Gold tallied four-straight points to go up 9-5. Five of the next seven points in the set went to the Cougars in true CCAA competition fashion.
The point scoring went back-and-forth from there and despite a late four-point run by the visitors, the Broncos finished the set off with kills by Williams and Blaine to take the set 25-23.
What would be the third and final set of the match was by far the most balanced of the evening. For the first time of the night, the Cougars jumped out in front first. They racked up four-straight points after collecting themselves in the long break. The Broncos pushed back immediately with four of their own to tie things at 4-4.
A six-point run by the Green and Gold, their longest of the night, put them ahead of their SoCal opponents 13-7. Ten points later for the home team and 16 for the visitors saw the score tied at 23-23. CSUSM pushed ahead by one, the Broncos came back and then went ahead with a Figueroa service ace. Cougars tied it. Broncos go ahead on a Blaine kill. Cougars tied it. To finish off the CCAA newcomers, the Broncos saw two straight kills by Blaine. CPP won the third and final set 28-26.
The Green and Gold will return to action on Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. as they head south to La Jolla to challenge the UC San Diego Tritons on Tuesday. The Tritons currently have an 8-6 record on the season, compete with a 4-2 standing in conference play. They will play visitor to the Sonoma State Seawolves on Saturday before hosting the Broncos on Tuesday.
