POMONA—The Chico State volleyball team has assured itself a berth in next week's California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championship Tournament, but the Wildcats were hoping Saturday's final match of the 2019 campaign would provide them with some positive momentum heading into postseason play. It was not to be. Despite winning the first two sets against host Cal Poly Pomona, the Broncos—playing their final contest of the season—came back to win the next three sets and handing the 'Cats a 25-19, 28-26, 19-25, 19-25, 11-15 defeat at Kellogg Gym.
Saturday's loss—Chico State's third consecutive setback—evened the Wildcats' regular season record at 13-13 and conference mark at 9-9, good for fourth place in the CCAA North Division. Cal Poly Pomona finishes its season 8-16 overall and 6-11 in conference play.
The good news is that the 'Cats will play on. Chico State will be heading back to Southern California next week as the No. 8 seed in the single-elimination CCAA Championship Tournament. The not-so-good news: the Wildcats draw the nation's No. 1 team, Cal State San Bernardino (a perfect 24-0 on the season), in Thursday's quarterfinal action.
Four Wildcats posted double-digit kills in Saturday's loss to Pomona. Bekah Boyle pounded 14 kills and added four blocks, while Kim Wright and Grace Shepherd each delivered 13 winners. Makaela Keeve contributed in all facets of the contest, with 10 kills, three service aces, four blocks and nine digs. Kelley Jacome added nine kills for the 'Cats, with Brooke Ono dishing out 49 assists and sharing top team honors with Brooke Fogel with 15 digs.
The opening set was played pretty evenly to start, with the two teams splitting the first 16 points. The Wildcats broke it open with a 9-2 run, highlighted by a pair of Keeve aces, combo blocks by Wright/Jacome and Wright/Boyle, and four kills by Boyle. Pomona was forced to play catch-up, and actually whittled the deficit to 22-19, but kills by Wright and Boyle and a Broncos miscue gave Chico State the points needed to secure the 25-19 win.
Pomona was in front for most of the second set, but couldn't forge a lead bigger than three points. Though Chico State hung close, the Broncos took a 24-21 lead and appeared set to knot up the match. But the Wildcats not only survived three set points—a Pomona error was followed by a Jacome kill and a Lauren Voelker ace—another ace by Voelker gave Chico State a 25-24 lead. The Broncos were able to stay alive briefly, only to see the 'Cats score three of the final four points—a Keeve kill and back-to-back winners by Boyle—as Chico State pulled out the marathon 28-26 victory.
Cal Poly Pomona rebounded in the third set, snapping a 9-all tie and leading the rest of the way. With the score 19-17, it was still anybody's game, but the Broncos slowly pulled away late, and despite late Wildcat kills by Keeve, Jacome, and Boyle, Pomona finished on a 6-2 run to win 25-19.
It was more of the same in the fourth set, as Pomona established an early advantage and refused to let go of the lead. Chico State stayed close, and a trio of kills by Shepherd closed the gap to 17-15. The Broncos proceeded to score five unanswered points to go up 22-15, and though the 'Cats battled—Jacome and Keeve combined on a late block, with Boyle and Jacome following with kills—Chico State's comeback bid ran out of time, as Pomona went on to win 25-19 and even the match at two sets apiece.
In the fifth and deciding set, the Broncos raced out to a 3-0 lead, only to see the Wildcats jump out in front on kills by Jacome and Keeve, a solo block by Keeve, and a Keeve/Boyle combo block. Pomona answered with four straight points of its own to go back in front 7-4, but once again the 'Cats picked themselves off the deck, tying the score on Keeve and Jacome kills and a Keeve ace. The score was still knotted up at 10-10 when the Broncos made what would prove to be the winning run, registering five of the final six points to win 15-11 and take the match in five hard-fought sets.
Chico State will be at Coussoulis Arena in San Bernardino this Thursday night to face the host Coyotes in the first round of the CCAA Championship Tournament. First serve is set for 7:30 p.m., with the winner advancing to the eight team tournament's semifinal on Friday. The Wildcats will need a win to keep their 2019 season alive.
