CHICO, Calif. — The Chico State volleyball team lost to 15th-ranked Cal Poly Pomona 3-0 (23-25, 13-25, 25-27) Saturday at Art Acker Gym.
The Wildcats (4-9, 1-6 CCAA) finished with 28 kills and a .127 hitting percentage, including 16 kills and a .238 mark in the third set.
Claire Nordeen finished with 26 assists, five digs and a block assist. With the 26 assists, Nordeen now has 1,776 in her career, moving past Maya Brown (1994-96) for eighth in program history.
Maria Wahl led the Wildcats with seven kills and three service aces while adding 10 digs. Sophia Heller collected a team-high 14 digs and added two kills. Whitney Fairfield recorded four kills, one ace and three block assists.
Cal Poly Pomona (14-3, 6-1 CCAA) built a 9-3 lead, with Paige Bowyer serving consecutive aces for the final two points of that early stretch. The Wildcats cut the gap to 12-10 behind a Wahl kill, two Wahl service aces and a Jillian Davis kill, then later used Cal Poly Pomona errors to pull even at 15-15. After Cal Poly Pomona went back ahead 19-15, Davis and Wyievee Binda had kills in a three-point Chico State answer, and kills by Wahl tied the set at 21-21 before a bad set gave the 'Cats a 22-21 lead. Cal Poly Pomona answered with the next three points, moving to set point at 24-22 on a service ace and a Sarah Ybarra kill, and after a Wildcats point on a service error, a kill by Alexia Athans ended the set 25-23.
Cal Poly Pomona built a 6-1 lead in the second set, opening with two blocks involving Athans before Ybarra and Elle Walker added kills and Renee Nachtigall served an ace. Chico State got a kill and later a service ace from Wahl, then used a Kassandra Nall kill, a Wahl kill and a block by Binda and Nall to pull within 15-10. Cal Poly Pomona moved back ahead 19-10 with two Walker kills in a four-point stretch, and after the Wildcats scored twice to make it 19-12, Cal Poly Pomona took six of the final seven points, including Bowyer's ace and Ybarra's closing kill, to win the set 25-13.
Cal Poly Pomona broke from a 3-3 tie in the third set with five straight points to move ahead 8-3 before Chico State answered with kills from Fairfield and Nordeen. After Cal Poly Pomona led 9-5, kills by Nall and Fairfield helped the Wildcats pull even at 9-9. Cal Poly Pomona responded from a 10-10 tie with five straight points and later led 23-20, but Chico State tied it again at 23-23 on a Cal Poly Pomona service error and back-to-back Wahl kills. The 'Cats also answered set points with kills by Nall and Fairfield, but Cal Poly Pomona finished the set with a Charlotte Koerber kill and a block-assisted point for a 27-25 win.
The Wildcats now begin a four-match road trip, starting with Cal State Monterey Bay in Seaside on Friday at 5 p.m. The Wildcats had to rally and beat the Otters in non-conference action in Acker Gym back in September.
