POMONA, Calif. – Cal Poly Pomona opened conference play with a win against No. 19 Cal State San Bernardino on Friday night, improving to 7-1 while the Coyotes fell to 4-4 on the season. The win was the Broncos' first against San Bernardino since the 2022 season.
 
The two programs have developed a strong rivalry in recent memory, starting with CPP eliminating CSUSB from both the CCAA Tournament and NCAA Tournament in 2022. The Yotes got their revenge, doing the exact same to the Broncos in 2023. Entering this season, CPP was picked No. 2 in the CCAA preseason poll while CSUSB was selected No. 3 – just three points separating the pair. It's only appropriate the two would open conference play against one another. 
 
The first set got away from the Green & Gold. After going up 19-11, Cal Poly Pomona allowed CSUSB to score five consecutive points – three of which came off attack errors. The Yotes would then go on a 7-1 run to regain the lead at 23-22, erasing the once eight-point lead. After tying it at 24-24, back-to-back kills would give the Yotes the first set by a score of 26-24.
 
The No. 13 ranked Broncos responded with two seven-point runs in the second set, with their lead reaching as high as sixteen when they went up 23-7. The team seemed to have better luck on their attacks, more than doubling their hit percentage from set one (.184) to set two (.382). The Broncos closed out the second set in convincing fashion with a score of 25-12.
 
CPP carried that momentum through sets three and four, never allowing San Bernardino to pull ahead by more than four points. The Broncos' 29 kills in the final two sets, paired with the Coyotes' .055 attack percentage, made for easy 25-16 and 25-18 wins.
 
Sarah Ybarra, Madison Novak, and Samantha Campion all once again recorded double-doubles in the match. Ybarra led the team with 19 kills, the second-most of her career, while ranking second in digs with 16. The trio has a combined 279 kills so far this season, more than 73 schools in Division II. Novak logged her fourth consecutive match with double-digit kills on Friday, while Campion tied a season-high 13 kills.
 
Senior Caitie Mueller recorded 45 assists in the match, just the second time she has collected more than 40 in a match this season. She is now 205 away from moving up to seventh all-time in CPP history. Helen McMullin led the Broncos at the net with four blocks, while Avery Percival also aided on defense with a team-high 17 digs.
 
 
Up Next
The Broncos will face San Francisco State tomorrow, September 21^st, at 5:00 PM in Kellogg Arena. Tickets will be available for purchase at the entrance, or you can tune in to watch on FloSports.
 
 
Bronco Bits

• The Broncos are now 29-49 (.372) all-time against Cal State San Bernardino, including 16-18 in Kellogg Arena.
• Traci Dahl is now 84-36 (.697) overall and 49-23 (.676) in CCAA games as head coach.
• For the past three consecutive seasons, CPP has owned a 7-1 record through their first eight matches. The team has only been 8-0 twice, coming in 2005 and 2021.
• The best start in program history came in 2005, when CPP went 19-0 before losing and were ranked as high as No. 6 in the nation.
• The Broncos have won six consecutive CCAA openers, the last loss coming in 2017.