LA JOLLA – In a match-up between arguably the top two volleyball programs on the West Coast, No. 3 Cal State San Bernardino proved to be at its best Wednesday night against No. 16 UC San Diego with an impressive 3-1 road victory in CCAA play.

Before a crowd of 481 fans at RIMAC Arena, the Coyotes improved to 14-0 overall and 9-0 in the CCAA with their second victory against a ranked foe this season.

The 14 consecutive victories is CSUSB's third-best start in school  history.

The list of impressive performances for the Coyotes again featured the band of usual suspects in the 25-18, 22-25, 25-21, 25-17 victory. Senior All-American Samantha Middleborn was solid yet again at her middle blocker position. The reigning National Player of the Year had a 16 kills/1 error effort in 30 attacks, good for a .500 percentage. She also had a combined eight blocks with two solos.

Middleborn was joined by fellow senior Morgan Carty, who had the squad's first double-double this season. The Upland native had 10 kills and a team-best 25 digs this season. Four players had double figures in digs as senior libero Kelcie Tolan had 23 and sophomore outside hitter Danielle Newcombe 12.

Junior All-American Camille Smith also had a double-double with 46 assists and 10 digs.

Senior outside hitter Priscilla Collings returned to her hometown and tied Middleborn with 16 kills on the night. She also had a match-best three service aces.

The Coyotes' 92 digs were a season-best and they shut down the Tritons on the attack, holding UCSD to a .107 attack percentage (42-24-168).

After taking the opening set 25-18, the Coyotes built a 9-2 lead in the second set before UCSD got rolling. The Tritons built a 9-1 run to lead 11-10. The set was tied six times down the stretch until UCSD scored three straight points after the set was tied for the last time at 22-22.

In set three, the Coyotes trailed 18-17 before they earned momentum late for the winner. Three kills from Collings ignited a four-point run. The Tritons answered with three consecutive points of their own to tie the set at 21-21.

But with Collings serving, she threw down a kill and after UCSD had an attack error, she served an ace and Carty earned the set winner with a kill.

Leading 17-12 in the fourth set, UCSD rallied with four straight points. CSUSB coach Kim Cherniss called a time-out that paid dividends late as CSUSB got back on track with five consecutive points of their own to take a 22-16 lead. Johnson and Carty each had kills in the final moments and CSUSB had its valued road win.

The Coyotes are back on the road this weekend with matches at Cal State East Bay (Friday) and Cal State Monterey Bay (Saturday).

UCSD dropped to 10-3, 6-3.

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