SAN BERNARDINO -- A potential CCAA record was on the line during the third-ranked Coyotes' match against visiting Chico State on Friday.
National Player of the Year
Samantha Middleborn chased a potential conference record for attack percentage as the Coyotes continued their dominance over the Wildcats with a 3-0 victory (25-12, 25-16, 25-19) before a crowd of 505 at Coussoulis Arena.
Box Score: (
Click Here)
The Coyotes, now 10-0 overall and 5-0 in the CCAA, defeated Chico State for the 32nd straight time as Middleborn finished with an incredible .850 attack percentage on 17 kills, no errors in 20 total attacks. She just missed the record of .882, set by Cal State East Bay's Kitona Offord (15-0-17) against Cal Poly Pomona last season.
CSUSB did not waste any time in finding a high gear in the opening set as the Coyotes fired a .548 effort on the attack with 20 kills, three errors in 31 attacks. After the Wildcats led 3-1, CSUSB got going with three kills each from Middleborn and fellow senior
Priscilla Collings. They later followed that effort with a 7-1 run off three more kills from Middleborn and led 20-9.
The only lead the Wildcats would gain in the second set Jacqueline Johnson's kill to lead off the set.
Morgan Carty, who played well defensively with a match-high 15 digs, had three kills in the set and Middleborn had four.
The third and final set was all CSUSB as it never trailed in a .343 attack performance (16-4-35).
Middleborn may have earned the top headline, but she was far from the only story on this night. Collings was solid at her outside hitter position. She also was error-free with 11 kills on 23 attacks (.478). Middleborn also had five blocks and Collings had two.
All-American setter
Camille Smith had 29 assist with one kill, four digs and three blocks.
Carty had six kills, a service ace and a block to go with her 15 digs. Senior
Megan Johnson had two blocks and five kills. Senior libero
Kelcie Tolan had seven digs, while sophomore
Danielle Newcombe had nine digs.
Chico State (8-3, 3-2) was led by Johnson and Makenzie Snyder, who each had five kills.
The Coyotes complete their weekend Saturday at home against Cal State Stanislaus. First serve is 7 p.m.
MATCH NOTES: The victory was CSUSB's 53rd consecutive at home and its 36th straight home CCAA win... The last time Chico State defeated the Coyotes was on this date, 16 years ago -- a 3-2 win... The victory also is the Coyotes' 101st in their last 110 matches.