With two of the nation's top 20 teams coming to town, the Chico State volleyball team knew it had a challenging week ahead of them. Friday, the Wildcats forced No. 13 Cal State San Bernardino to work for a hard-fought win, so with No. 18 Cal Poly Pomona visiting Acker Gym for a Saturday afternoon match, the 'Cats were confident they could also give the Broncos a battle. Instead, Pomona unleashed a nearly flawless performance, rolling past the Wildcats 25-11, 25-16, 25-7.
Chico State suffered its ninth straight loss to dip to 3-16 on the season and 1-11 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). With Saturday's win, Cal Poly Pomona raised its overall record to 16-3 and 10-2 in conference play.
Zoe DiNardo posted a team-high six kills for Chico State, with Nariah Prescott and Bree Rodriguez adding five and four kills, respectively, to the 'Cats' attack. Brooke Ono and Caitlyn Eichhorst combined to dole out 21 assists, while Lexi Carpenter collected six digs. Ono registered both of the Wildcats' two service aces on the afternoon.
The first set was the most competitive of the three, with both teams playing it even through the early going—Rodriguez, DiNardo, and Lauryn Osendorf coming through with kills for the 'Cats. With the scored tied at four-all, Pomona slowly started to pull away, and soon had fashioned an 18-5 run to build a double-digit lead. DiNardo and Taylor Whyte blasted kills down the stretch, but it was too little and too late for the Wildcats as the Broncos quickly put the finishing touches on a 25-11 victory.
Pomona led from start to finish in the second set, though Chico State hung around and didn't allow the Broncos to put together a huge scoring run. An Ono ace and kills by DiNardo, Osendorf, and Brooklynn Anderson brought the Wildcats to within 17-13, but that would be as close as they would get, as Pomona tallied four of the set's final five points to prevail 25-16.
It was all Broncos in the third and final set. Early kills by Anderson, DiNardo, and Osendorf had Chico State within striking distance at 7-5 when the Wildcats' wheels abruptly fell off. Pomona scored nine unanswered points to balloon its advantage to 11, then after a kill by Rodriguez made the score 17-7, the Broncos ended the proceedings with an 8-0 run to win going away 25-7 and secure the match sweep.
Chico State hits the road next week for a pair of CCAA conference matches. Friday the Wildcats will be in Southern California to take on Cal State San Marcos, then on Saturday head to the Bay Area for a match-up against Cal State East Bay. Both matches are scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.
