BOX SCORE Cal State San Bernardino def. #22 Sonoma State, 3-0 (25-23, 27-25, 25-15) -- Box Score
ROHNERT PARK -- Kelsey Hull smashed 11 kills and
Nicole Gragnola recorded 11 digs, but the Sonoma State women's volleyball team ran out of gas on Saturday afternoon, falling to Cal State San Bernardino in straight sets (25-23, 27-25, 25-15) at The Wolves' Den in Rohnert Park. The Seawolves, who have lost three matches in four days, fall to 11-6 overall and 5-4 in the CCAA. The Coyotes extend their winning streak over SSU to 31 matches, dating back to 1995, while improving to 10-6 and 7-1 with seven consecutive victories, all in conference play.
Hull was the only SSU player with double-digit kills, no one else had more than seven. As a team, the Seawolves hammered 37 kills, but with 22 errors in 133 swings, they hit .133, 100 percentage points lower than the Coyotes (.233).
Regan Richert pounded home seven kills with no errors in 12 attacks for a .583 clip, while
Ally Sather also chipped in with seven kills, in addition to two digs and three solo blocks. Defensively, Gragnola had 11 of Sonoma State's 42 digs and Sather accounted for three of the seven total team rejections.
Just 17 hours after enduring a five-set match with UC San Diego that featured 58 ties and 24 lead changes, the first set between Sonoma State and Cal State San Bernardino would follow that trend. Both teams found an offensive rhythm early, helping to account for 15 ties and two lead changes in the opening frame. It would be the Seawolves to have the upper hand late in the set, holding a 22-20 lead, but the Coyotes went on to score five of the next six points to grab the 1-0 match lead.
It was again a back-and-forth battle in the second set, but Cal State San Bernardino started to pull away late, eventually leading 22-17. Sonoma State would surge, however, scoring eight of the next 10 points to force set point at 25-24. But the Coyotes would get two kills from Alexandra Torline and a set-clinching kill from Ashley Solis to give the visitors a 2-0 lead in the match.
Another see-saw battle would transpire in the third set, but CSUSB would begin pull away and eventually cruise to a convincing 25-15 win to capture its seventh straight win of the season.
Danielle Newcombe led all players with 13 kills, followed by 11 kills from Torline as Cal State San Bernardino held the advantage in kills (45-37), attack percentage (.233-.133), assists (39-35), digs (48-42) and blocks (14-7). Brenna McIntosh was a brick wall for the Coyotes at the net with 10 assisted blocks and one solo stop, teaming up with Torline, who had seven assisted blocks.
Sonoma State will look to regroup before hosting Cal Poly Pomona next Friday (Oct. 13) at 7:00 p.m. in The Wolves' Den.
