Box Score
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – Fresh off its first-ever victory at UC San Diego on Friday, the visiting San Francisco State women's volleyball team rode that momentum into Saturday's showdown at No. 25 Cal State San Bernardino. After capturing the first set, however, the Gators were stymied by the Coyotes' vaunted defense in a 3-1 defeat (27-29, 25-21, 25-16, 25-17) at Coussoulis Arena.
CSUSB (20-8, 17-3 California Collegiate Athletic Association) posted a whopping 14.5 total blocks and maintained a 71-57 advantage in digs to help clinch their seventh straight conference title and 13th consecutive NCAA Tournament berth.
With the loss, SF State (19-8, 14-6 CCAA) now finds itself in a three-way tie for second place in the CCAA standings with Sonoma State and UC San Diego after the former sank the Tritons on their home floor Saturday.
Megan Johnson led the Gators with 13 kills, followed by
Meagan Wright, who launched nine put-aways of her own, while
Kelly Ostello and
Jazmine Williams (3 blocks) collected eight apiece. However, the Purple and Gold was unable to overcome 33 attack errors and finished with a .108 hitting percentage.
By contrast, the Coyotes (.235) committed 20 errant attacks and owned a 56-50 margin in kills.
Brenna McIntosh (.484) paced the victors with 18 kills and nine total blocks, while Alexandra Torline (15 kills) and Mercedes Winchester (.320, 11 kills) also surpassed double digits in put-aways. In addition, Camille Smith contributed a double-double after racking up 46 setting assists and 11 digs while adding four block assists, along with Torline.
CSUSB led by as many as four points in the opening set and seemed primed to hold off SF State after building a late 24-21 bulge on an Ashley Solis kill. However, the host school quickly self-destructed on the next three balls, committing an errant serve, a wayward attack and a double tap. Williams soon blasted a kill, and suddenly the Gators found themselves in front, 25-24. After an exchange of points over the next five serves, the Purple and Gold benefited from another Coyote service error, while Johnson launched a non-returnable, allowing the visitors to steal the frame.
SF State was unable to sustain the momentum in set number two as CSUSB raced to a 6-1 lead it would not surrender. Two Wright kills and a pair of aces by
Iris Tolenada keyed a late rally, but another 24-21 deficit proved too much to overcome this time around.
The score was tied just once in the third frame at 2-2, until McIntosh powered down four straight kills to ignite a 13-3 run that put the Coyotes in control to stay.
The Gators tried to regroup in the fourth set as a Williams solo block and a Johnson kill knotted things up at 15-15. However, SF State could not stem CSUSB's 10-2 closing rush, which was fueled by three combined blocks, with McIntosh assisting Jay Rutledge, Torline and Danielle Newcombe, respectively.
The Gators, ranked eighth in the latest NCAA Division II West Region poll, will look to improve their postseason prospects next week when they travel to Cal Poly Pomona (Nov. 15) and Humboldt State (Nov. 17) to close off their regular-season slate. Both matches are set to begin at 7 p.m.
