SAN BERNARDINO – Cal State San Bernardino left little doubt Friday why its volleyball team is ranked No. 3 in the nation. The Coyotes – shooting for their sixth straight California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) title – got a combined 28 kills from Priscilla Collings and All-American Samantha Middleborn, and needed just 75 minutes to snap Chico State’s winning streak at four and hand the Wildcats a 25-12, 25-16, 25-19 defeat at Coussoulis Arena.
Friday’s loss dropped Chico State to 8-3 on the season and 3-2 in the CCAA. Cal State San Bernardino upped its overall mark to 10-0 and moved to 5-0 in conference play.
It was a tough night for the Wildcats offense, which delivered just 24 kills and posted a miniscule .071 hitting percentage. Makenzie Snyder and Jacqueline Johnson had five kills apiece to lead the ’Cats; Sable Villaescusa, playing in two sets, contributed 15 assists, three service aces and a block, while Lauren Orozco chipped in with eight digs.
Chico State took an early 3-1 lead in the opening set, but Cal State San Bernardino posted seven unanswered points to jump on top, 8-3. Kills from Johnson, Snyder, Jessica Leek and Lindsay Quigley kept the Wildcats close, but with the score 13-8 the Coyotes took command by going on a 9-2 run to push their advantage to 12. San Bernardino survived a pair of late Chico State points – one on a kill by Quigley – to cruise to the 25-12 victory.
The Wildcats put up the first point in the second set, only to see the Coyotes tally five straight points to take an early lead. With the score 8-2, a kill by Snyder and two service aces by Villaescusa highlighted a 4-0 Chico State run to make the score 8-6. San Bernardino answered with four unanswered points of its own to push the lead back to six, and the ’Cats could get no closer than five the rest of the way – with the score 17-12, the Coyotes reeled off eight of the final 12 points to grab a 25-16 win.
Head Coach Cody Hein went to his bench for the third set, and the Wildcats reserves gave San Bernardino about as much as it could handle. The Coyotes jumped out to an 8-3 lead, and despite kills by Johnson, Quigley, Alex Shurtz and Ellie Larronde, San Bernardino slowly and surely built a double-digit lead. With the score 20-10, Chico State sent the Coyotes momentarily reeling – a service ace by Emily Duran and kills by Johnson, Larronde, Sophia Somers and Kristan Music fueled a 9-3 run to pull the ’Cats to within 23-19. San Bernardino was able to regroup in time, registering the final two points of the set to win 25-19 and sweep the match.
BOX SCORE
Chico State returns to action Saturday, traveling to La Jolla to take on the 10th-ranked UC San Diego Tritons (9-0, 5-0 CCAA) at RIMAC Arena. The match is scheduled to get underway at 7 p.m.
