POMONA, Calif. – The San Francisco State women's volleyball team had its offense held in check Friday, dropping a three-set decision (25-13, 25-23, 25-16) to Cal Poly Pomona in the California Collegiate Athletic Association opener for both teams at Darlene May Gymnasium.
The Gators (3-3) were limited to a season-low .068 attack percentage, committing 25 errors, while the Broncos (3-2) hit .326 for the match and totaled just 14 miscues.
"We didn't come prepared tonight and it showed," said SF State head coach Michelle Patton. "We made a ton of unforced errors and didn't play very aggressively, especially when it came to our serving. CPP took advantage of that in the first game and we struggled with missed assignments all night."
Individually, SF State was led by Sarah Lewis (.500), who finished with eight kills on 16 attempts and no errors, while Megan Larmour and Katie Judd knocked down six apiece. In addition, Iris Tolenada handed out 26 assists, while Sarah Kurfess added six digs.
CPP received match-highs from Jessica Doerner (12 kills), Katie Colin (35 assists), Kristin McNeese (7 digs) and Taylr Kreutziger (5 block assists) in the winning effort.
The opening set belonged to the Broncos as the home team took advantage of three attack errors and a kill by Kreutziger to stake a 4-0 lead. After a kill by Halimah Oswald brought the Gators to within 6-3, CPP uncorked a 9-2 run, capped by a Lindsey Poulos service ace, to build a commanding 15-5 bulge. The Broncos never looked back at this juncture as a Diana Lake kill and an SF State attack error provided the clinching points. CPP hit .440 for the set, recording 15 kills and allowing just eight non-returnables on defense.
The Gators fared much better in the second frame, but still found themselves on the wrong side of a 14-10 score after a Poulos kill. However, SF State would not go quietly, eventually knotting things up at 16-16 following a dump shot over the net by Tolenada. Moments later, the Broncos tallied three straight points, punctuated by a Kreutziger kill, to take the lead for good at 19-16. SF State managed to trim the deficit to one on six occasions, but was unable to gain the upper hand for the remainder of the set. Trailing 24-23 after a Lewis kill, the Gator comeback hopes were promptly dashed as Lake's kill allowed CPP to escape.
The two teams battled one another early in the third stanza, with SF State nursing a slim 7-6 advantage after a service error by McNeese. However, a kill by Doerner ignited a 14-4 blitz, putting the Broncos in control at 20-11.
The Gators will remain in Southern California to tackle third-ranked Cal State San Bernardino on Saturday, Sept. 11, beginning at 7 p.m. The Coyotes (4-1) were triumphant over Cal State Monterey Bay, 3-0, on Friday.
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