POMONA, Calif. – Powerful Cal State San Bernardino may be waiting in the wings on the Chico State volleyball team’s current southern California road trip, but the No. 25 ranked Wildcats made sure not to look past Friday’s opponent – the ’Cats racked up an impressive .325 attack percentage in dispatching of Cal Poly Pomona, beating the Broncos in three sets by scores of 25-21, 25-21 and 25-20 at Darlene May Gym.

It was the fourth straight win for the Wildcats, who improve to 19-5 on the season and 10-4 in the California Collegiate Athletic Conference. Friday’s loss dropped Cal Poly Pomona to 8-14 overall and 5-10 in the CCAA.

Friday proved to be a big night for the Wildcats’ Makenzie Snyder – the sophomore from Placerville piled up 20 kills over the three sets; she also led Chico State with nine digs. Freshman Jessica Leek put up some of her best numbers of the season, posting 15 kills and five digs. Gillian Heydorff contributed eight kills, five digs and three block assists on defense, while Sable Villaescusa added to her season average by handing out 44 assists on the evening.

The Wildcats won in come-from-behind fashion in the match’s opening set, erasing a 21-20 deficit with five straight points (kills from Leek and Snyder, a Leek service ace and a pair of Cal Poly Pomona attack errors) to come away with the 25-21 win.
 
The Broncos trailed most of the second set, but got to within 21-20 before Snyder restored order for Chico State, drilling two kills down the stretch to lead the Wildcats to another 25-21 victory.

Cal Poly Pomona led early in the third set, but with the score 6-4, Chico State earned five of the next seven points to go up 9-8, and the Wildcats never relinquished the lead, eventually winning the set 25-20 and completing a season sweep of the Broncos.

BOX SCORE

Chico State will take on No. 3 ranked Cal State San Bernardino Saturday at the Coyotes’ Coussoulis Arena, trying to avenge a four-set loss in Chico back on September 18. Saturday’s match will tip off at 7:00 p.m.