BOX SCORE: #2 Cal State San Bernardino 3, #23 Sonoma State 0
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif- Sonoma State, which entered the weekend as the 23rd-ranked team in the nation, led on several occasions late in the second and third sets, but second-ranked Cal State San Bernardino held strong and rallied for a three-set sweep of the Seawolves (25-19, 25-22, 28-26) on Saturday night at Coussoulis Arena in San Bernardino. The undefeated Coyotes (24-0, 19-0 CCAA) clinched their sixth consecutive CCAA title, and their ninth in 11 years. The Seawolves (19-6, 16-4 CCAA) have lost two straight matches for the first time this season, dropping three of their last four contests.
Reminiscent of Friday night's match at UC San Diego, the Seawolves were unable to find its offensive groove, but it would be the stifling Cal State San Bernardino defense to blame. The Coyotes, the 15th-best blocking team in the nation, rejected 16 total blocks, including ten assisted blocks by Samantha Middleborn, who is seventh in the nation in blocks per set. CSUSB's backline also played a huge game as Morgan Carty (13) and Kelcie Tolan (12) each had double-digit digs, helping to hold Sonoma State to a season-low .088 hitting percentage (36 kills, 26 errors, 113 attacks).
Brooke Moore and
Ally Sather led the way with nine kills, but Moore hit at a team-high .583 clip (Sather hit .103). The Seawolf defense, playing without senior libero
Taylor Krenwinkel, also played strong, recording more digs (54-43) while holding the Coyotes to .223 as a team, 89 points below their season average of .312.
Nicole Gragnola had a match-high 14 digs
In the opening set, Sonoma State took a big 8-3 lead early, forcing a Cal State San Bernardino timeout. The Coyotes would chip away at the deficit and the two teams eventually tied at 13-13. That's when CSUSB took over, scoring 10 of the next 12 points to lead 23-15. SSU scored the next three points to trail by five at 23-18, but the hosts put the opening set away with a 25-19 win.
Another back and forth set featured 13 ties, but it would be Sonoma State that pulled away late to lead 22-19. However, Cal State San Bernardino scored six straight points on three blocks, two kills by Priscilla Collings and a Seawolf attack error to win 25-22 and take a two set to none lead.
In the third set, both teams would battle through 12 ties, most of which came late. The Seawolves would actually hold set point on a pair of occasions (25-24 and 26-25), but the Coyotes battled back and, just as they had all night, scored the match's final three points on three blocks to win 28-26 and earn the 3-0 match victory.
Sonoma State will return home on Friday to host the final two games of the regular season. San Francisco State will make an appearance in The Wolves' Den on Friday and Cal Poly Pomona will follow on Saturday, with both matches set for 7:00 p.m.
The Seawolves, who were ranked at No. 5 in last week's official NCAA Division II West Region poll, are vying for their fourth straight NCAA tournament appearance. To qualify for postseason action, Sonoma State will need to be one of the top eight teams in the final regional poll.
