SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – The San Francisco State women's volleyball team ran into a juggernaut on Friday, falling to No. 3 Cal State San Bernardino in three sets (25-14, 25-14, 25-21) at Coussoulis Arena in San Bernardino, Calif.  

 

The Gators lost for the second time this season against the Coyotes, who raised their record to 17-2 overall and 9-2 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. Meanwhile with the defeat SF State slips to 11-9 on the season and 4-7 in league play.

 

“As a team, we didn't prepare the way we needed to in order to play well against a squad of San Bernardino's caliber,” said Gator head coach Michelle Patton. “Beth Perkins (Woodland, California, Mt. Hood Community College) played extremely well for us tonight, and we are looking to our older players to provide much-needed leadership going into Saturday's match at Pomona.”

 

Perkins posted a sparkling .435 hitting percentage on a match-high 10 kills with no errors, but as a whole the Gators got little help elsewhere, hitting just .062 for the night.

 

Trouble was brewing early for the Gators as they found themselves on the wrong side of a 12-3 score in the opening frame. SF State scored three straight points on a block by junior Sloane Williams (Henderson, Nevada, Coronado HS, Lake Land College (Ill.)), a service ace by freshman Allison Grandy (Laguna Hills, California, Laguna Hills HS, Laguna Hills HS) and a Coyote attack error. However, any hopes of a Gator comeback were soon squelched as CSUSB went on an 8-3 run to effectively put the first set out of reach.

 

The Gators kept things close midway through second set before the roof caved in. Trailing just 14-12 after a Perkins kill, SF State fell victim to an 11-2 Coyote flurry, punctuated by a Meghan Haas service ace and a block by Mercedes Winchester and Sara Hoffman.

 

Stung, the Gators fell quickly behind by a 4-0 count in the third set, before rallying to take only their third lead of the evening at 9-8. Unfortunately, SF State was unable to sustain the momentum as CSUSB went on another sizeable run to go out in front by a 20-14 margin. SF State made things interesting, pulling to within 20-19, before the host team sewed up the match with a 5-2 stretch.

 

The Gators will have little time to dwell on their defeat as they conclude their Southern California trek on Saturday with a league clash at Cal Poly Pomona.  First serve is set for 7 p.m. 

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