CHICO, Calif. – After losing a highly anticipated match Friday to perennial conference powerhouse Cal State San Bernardino, the Chico State volleyball team was faced with the challenge of shrugging off an emotional defeat, getting right back on the court and back into the win column. The Wildcats stepped up convincingly and passed the test with flying colors Saturday night at Acker Gym, defeating the visiting Cal Poly Pomona Broncos 25-21, 25-11 and 25-19 in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) play.
The victory improved Chico State’s record to 12-2 on the season and 3-1 in the CCAA. Cal Poly Pomona slipped to 5-6 for the year and 2-2 in conference play.
The match’s first set saw the Wildcats take an early lead, but Cal Poly Pomona stayed close and actually tied the contest at 11-all. Behind a pair of service aces by Gillian Heydorff, an ace from Jessica Simms and kills by Jessica Leek and Makenzie Snyder, the ’Cats went on a 9-4 run to go up 20-15 and take control of the set…late kills by Snyder, Kayla Baumgardner and Sable Villaescusa powered Chico State to the 25-21 win.
The Wildcats came out on fire in the second set, quickly building a 7-1 lead on the strength of three Snyder kills and three service aces by Simms. Heydorff then got into the act, delivering four kills as Chico State outscored Pomona 16-8 to extend its lead to 23-9. After a pair of late Broncos points, Snyder provided the exclamation point with a ferocious kill to give the Wildcats the 25-11 victory.
Cal Poly Pomona took an early 6-5 lead in the third set, but Chico State scored 13 of the next 17 points to streak to an 18-9 advantage – Snyder racked up three kills, Heydorff had a kill and a service ace and Villaescusa also produced a service ace during the run, as the Wildcats’ aggressive attack forced the Broncos into making several errors on defense. Cal Poly Pomona made a late run to cut the deficit to five, but a Lindsey Poulos service error on match point gave the ’Cats the 25-19 win and a three-set sweep of the match.
Snyder finished the night with 20 kills and three service aces, while Heydorff had 10 kills, nine digs and three service aces (Gillian now has 117 service aces in her Wildcat career, moving her into fourth place on Chico State’s all-time service aces list). Simms racked up a career-high five service aces to go along with nine digs, and Villaescusa dished out 33 assists for the Wildcats. Poulos led Cal Poly Pomona with seven kills on the evening, with Kelly Bonja adding four service aces in the losing effort.
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Chico State has a long road trip ahead of them next weekend, as they travel to southern California to take on UC San Diego Friday night and then to the Bay Area to battle Cal State East Bay on Saturday evening. Both matches are scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m.
