Cal State San Bernardino, ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division II, rode the strong right arm of sophomore outside hitter
Jane Chafeh and the left-handed swings of senior
Jessica Granados to a 3-1 women's volleyball victory Saturday night over Cal Baptist of Riverside, the No. 2 team in the NAIA.
Chafeh, the former Notre Dame HS of Riverside star, had a career-high 22 kills on 39 attacks for .462 hitting, bettering her previous career mark of 18 set as a freshman. Granados, the all-America right side hitter, had 14 kills on 28 attacks (.321 hitting) as CSUSB hit .391 against the Lancers.
The victory improved the Coyotes to 13-1 on the season while the Lancers are now 16-2. The win avenged a 3-1 defeat CSUSB suffered in last year's meeting of the two teams in the Lancers' gym.
Fei Shi was the leader for the Lancers with 12 kills on .257 hitting and nine digs. Noelle Dyk had nine kills. Krista Hasemeyer had 33 assists, three service aces and two block assists while Katrina Clark chipped in 13 digs. The Lancers hit .244 as a team
CSUSB won the first two sets in front of a crowd of 459 fans in Coussoulis Arena, 25-22 and 25-14, but Cal Baptist dominated the third set, winning 25-17. The Coyotes regained command midway through the fourth set and won the match with a 25-15 effort.
Junior setter
Sara Hoffman had a match-high 50 assists to go with six digs. Senior libero
Meghan Haas had 23 digs. Granados and
Ashtin Hall each had two service aces.
The match ended on an ace by Granados.
The victory for CSUSB took some of the sting out of Friday night's 3-2 loss to UC San Diego in a CCAA conference match. The next D-2 poll, due out late Monday, will determine if the Coyotes remain atop the poll or slip down the list.
The Coyotes will be at home next Friday and Saturday night, facing Humboldt State and CCAA leader Sonoma State.