TURLOCK, Calif. -- The 17th-ranked Cal Poly Pomona volleyball team earned a three-set sweep over Cal State East Bay (25-15, 28-26, 25-23) in the 2018 CCAA Volleyball Championship semifinals Friday evening to advance to Saturday's championship match against Cal State San Bernardino at 7:00 pm in Turlock.
The Broncos (23-4) will play for their first-ever CCAA tournament title while the No. 1 Coyotes (25-2) are gunning for their third straight banner. CPP and CSUSB have gone head-to-head twice this season, splitting the series with wins on each of their home courts.
Kristen Hamlin again dazzled with 15 kills on .500 hitting as
Desi Martin added nine of her own to go with three blocks to help Cal Poly Pomona to their first-ever CCAA Championship final after defeating Cal State East Bay in sweeping fashion on Saturday night from Stanislaus State's Fitzpatrick Arena.
Other big contributions on the night came by the way of defense, with four women notching double-digit dig efforts and a 38-assist outing for CCAA Freshman of the Year
Kira Zimmerman. Cal State East Bay was big on the block, denying nine attacks and sending a multitude of balls back to the Cal Poly Pomona side of the net. Libero
Alex Bollier was able to help direct the Broncos defense to scoop up the play continuations and Zimmerman helped reset the offense all night long as Cal Poly Pomona earned the hard-fought sweep.
Despite the three-setter, the last two frames of the night came down to the wire, and the Broncos had to stave off two set points in the second before back-to-back attacks for Hamlin gave Cal Poly Pomona the 28-26 edge. In the third, it again looked like the Pioneers might rally to extend the match, holding the 23-22 lead after an ace for Cassidy Caton. This time, a string of three consecutive kills from
Jenna Goldsberry,
Andrea Bosnic and Hamlin closed out the match and turned Cal State East Bay away.
The victorious effort for the Broncos sets up an intriguing finals rematch with Cal State San Bernardino. Cal Poly Pomona is the only CCAA team to earn a victory from the Coyotes, a 3-1 affair in Pomona on Oct. 12.
(CCAA Director of Communications Jessica Lantz also contributed to this story.)
