TURLOCK, Calif. -- Kristen Hamlin was on fire Thursday afternoon, pounding in 17 kills without an error in 27 swings, a red-hot hitting percentage of .630, propelling the Cal Poly Pomona volleyball team to a three-set sweep (28-26, 25-15, 25-18) over Stanislaus State to open the 2018 CCAA Volleyball Championships in Turlock.

The Broncos, who enter the conference tournament as the No. 17 team in the nation in the AVCA coaches poll, and the No. 4 team in the most recent NCAA West Region rankings, rise to 22-4 and advance to Friday's 5:00 pm semifinal against the winner of the game in progress between Cal State San Marcos and Cal State East Bay.  The Warriors saw their season come to an end at 16-11.



The opening set was by far the closest of the three between the Broncos and Warriors Thursday as it featured 13 tie scores and seven lead changes; the match overall had 16 ties and eight lead changes.  CPP kept out in front by several points early on, but Stanislaus State would claw itself back to a tie score every few minutes.  It looked like the Broncos would begin to run away with the first set after taking a 19-16 lead, but again, the Warriors scored three straight points to even the set at 19-19.  No team would lead by more than two points the rest of the frame as they would see-saw their way to the end.  Cal Poly Pomona would stave off set point twice (at 24-23 and again at 26-25) before Andrea Bosnic slammed two consecutive kills to the floor, followed by one from Ally Wilder to capture the all-important first set win.

The second set was much less dramatic as CPP jumped out to a 6-1 lead before cruising to the 25-15 win and take the 2-0 lead in the match.  In the third set, the hometown Warriors stayed close with the Broncos early, trailing by only three at 12-9, but Cal Poly Pomona caught fire again, scoring seven of the next eight points to lead 19-10 before closing out the 25-18 triumph and the 3-0 match win.

Hamlin led the Broncos with her 17 kills, setting a career-high with her .630 clip on offense.  She also added four blocks and three digs on the other side of the net.  Bosnic scored 10 kills with a .391 hitting percentage, also digging 10 attacks.  Jenna Goldsberry and Desi Martin went for nine and seven kills, respectively.  Alex Bollier led all defenders with 19 digs while Kira Zimmerman turned in a double-double performance with 42 assists and 12 digs.

For more information regarding the 2018 CCAA Volleyball Championship Tournament, visit the official web page here.