ROHNERT PARK -- In a competitive battle between regionally and nationally-ranked teams Friday night, Cal State San Bernardino earned a sweep of host Sonoma State, 3-0, as three Coyote players posted double-doubles in the CCAA conference volleyball match.
       The host Seawolves put up a battle in each set, but fell short 25-22, 25-21, 25-22 to drop to 19-6 on the season and 11-6 in the CCAA while the Coyotes improved to 23-1 overall, 16-1 in the CCAA. SSU came in ranked No. 3 in the West Region and No. 19 in the nation.
        The Coyotes, ranked No. 1 in the West and No. 3 in the nation, ran off three straight points to close out the third set to keep their lenghty unbeaten streak against the Seawolves alive. CSUSB now leads the series 26-2 and has not lost to Sonoma State since Oct. 6, 1995.
         Sophomore middle blocker Samantha Middleborn had 13 kills on .360 hitting with four block assists. Junior Jane Chafeh, the CCAA player of the week and ranked No. 1 in the nation in kills per set (4.74), finished with 13 kills and 10 digs along with three block assists.
         Sophomore outside hitter Morgan Carty had another solid performance with 10 kills and 10 digs while senior all-American setter Sara Hoffman continued her impressive consistency with 41 assts, 10 digs and three block assists. Redshirt freshman libero Camille Smith had a 17 digs.
          The CSUSB defense held Sonoma's two big hitters -- Keala Peterson and Allysan Sather -- under their kills per set average (they were ranked No. 8 and No. 9 in the nation). Peterson finished with nine kills and 10 digs while Sather had just seven kills. Sarah Illingworth had an all-around match for SSu with seven kills and six blocks, one of them solo. Setter Lindsay Brown had 26 assists and libero Taylor Krenwinkel had 17 digs.
          The Coyotes hit .231 for the match, well below their average of .291, which ranks No. 4 in the nation, while SSU hit just .158, well below its .266 season average that ranked 16th in the nation.
          CSUSB had a big edge in kills (53-33) and the teams each had 60 digs.
           In the first set, the match was tied early at 8-8, but CSUSB ran off four straight points to make it 12-8 and never trailed. Middleborn closed out the first set with a kill at 25-21.
          The two teams were never far apart in set two and the set was tied at 19-all on a kill by Sonoma's Brown but the Coyotes pulled away to take the set on back-to-back kills by junior outside hitter Nicole Moore.
          Sonoma State took an early 9-5 lead in set three and were up 15-11 after Rikki Buckshnis and Sather blocked a Coyote attack. However, the Coyotes battled back to tie the set at 16-all on a kill by Carty and then went ahead 19-17 on a kill by Middleborn.
          After a timeout, the Seawolves responded and took a 22-21 lead on a San Bernardino error and a kill by Peterson. However, CSUSB scored four straight points. Middleborn made it 22-all with a kill. Two Sonoma attack errors gave the Coyotes set point and sophomore Megan Johnson ended the match with a kill at 25-22.
           CSUSB heads for Humboldt State and a Halloween match at 7 p.m. Saturday night. For live stats on that match, go to www.hsujacks.com.