SAN BERNARDINO – Reigning National Player of the Year
Samantha Middleborn fired off a match-high 12 kills and a .600 attack percentage as No. 3 Cal State San Bernardino defeated visiting No. 17 Western Washington 3-0 (25-13, 25-19, 25-19) on Saturday night in the final match of the Coyote Labor Day Classic.
Middleborn, who was named to the all-tournament team along with teammates
Priscilla Collings,
Megan Johnson and
Camille Smith, was outstanding in all four Coyote victories over the two-plus day tourney. She finished with a .500 attack percentage (39 kills/4 errors/70 attacks) as the Coyotes, now 4-0 overall, improved their home winning streak to 50 consecutive matches.
Box Score: (
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Incidentally, the last team to defeat CSUSB was Western Washington in the 2007 NCAA West Region final.
The Coyotes fired off a collective .366 percentage in their four games and swept its way through four matches.
Megan Johnson (23/3/39) leads the Coyotes in attack percentage at .513, while
Morgan Carty is a .390 (20/4/41). Collings is hitting .350 with 28 kills.
After cruising through the first two sets, WWU challenged the Coyotes and led 10-5 on Marlayna Geary's kill. That got the Coyotes' attention as they went on a 10-2 run to lead 15-12.
The teams tied the set twice at 18 and 19 apiece, but Middleborn threw down a kill and that began a 6-0 run to finish the set and the match.
MATCH NOTES: It marks the third time since the 2007 season that the Coyotes have opened the season with four successive 3-0 victories... Their record during the Cherniss era is seven set in 2007... The match against the Vikings is the third victory since that NCAA playoff loss, but the first time they have met inside Coussoulis.. They played last season at Western Oregon and in 2009 at Cal State Dominguez Hills.... CSUSB is now 9-2 all-time against the Vikings... Joining the four Coyotes on the all-tourney team were: Chico State's Makenzie Snyder and Sable Villaescusa; Cal State L.A.'s Samantha Potter and Marquis Mora; Alaska Anchorage's Robyn Burton; and Western Washington's Emily Jepsen.
