SAN FRANCISCO – The location was different Saturday afternoon (Oct. 14) but the outcome was still the same – a 3-1 four-set victory for Cal State San Bernadino over the San Francisco State Gators before 101 fans in the Gators gym.
The Yotes, ranked No. 13 in NCAA Div. II, also defeated the Gators 3-1 on Thursday night (Oct. 12) in Coussoulis Arena. CSUSB improved its record to 15-3 overall and 8-2 in the CCAA Conference. The Gators slipped to 10-8 overall and 6-4 in the CCAA.
CSUSB lost the first set 21-25 and never had the lead. The Yotes bounced back to take the next three sets 25-18, 25-22 and 25-19 while hitting .305 for the match as a team and enjoying another dominant night defensively with four solo blocks and 20 block assists.
The Gators hit just .091 for the match, a result of 27 attack errors to just 14 for the Yotes.
"Great performance from our team today," said Head Coach
Kim Cherniss. "Sweeping San Francisco State keeps our momentum moving in the right direction."
Two of the players responsible for the team being on a roll right now is the superlative play of senior middle blocker
Jenna Patton and senior setter
Marlee Nunley.
"Marlee had a tremendous match with 40 assists, five blocks, seven digs and helping our team hit .305," said Cherniss. "Jenna continued her offensive tear with another dominate performance."
It was Patton's fourth straight match with zero attack errors, this time producing 16 kills on 18 swings for an unreal hitting percentage of .899, which ranks No. 2 all-time for a Yotes player who has 15 or more attacks in a match. The record of .933 was set on Nov. 1, 2013 by all-American middle blocker Brenna McIntosh. McIntosh nailed 14 kills in 15 tries with no errors.
Patton also assisted on six blocks Saturday and was leading the CCAA in hitting percentage and ranked No. 9 in NCAA Div. II in that category at .438 entering the two matches with the Gators.
Freshman outside hitter
Trinity Sheridan has another solid night with 12 kills on .348 hitting with seven block assists.
Ashley Robinson chipped in with eight kills, two solo blocks and two block assists.
Savannah Hoffmann also had two solo blocks and assisted on another to go with nine kills.
Patton's partner in the middle of the front line,
Taryn King, added five kills on .400 hitting with four block assists.
The deciding sets were close. In the third, a hard-fought 25-22 win for the Yotes, the score was tied 14 times and there were six lead changes. Same story in the fourth set, won by the Yotes after 11 tie scores and seven lead changes, 25-19.
UP NEXT: The Yotes will be on the road next Friday and Saturday (Oct. 20-21) playing at Chico State at 5 p.m. Friday and at Stanislaus State at 5 p.m. on Saturday. Follow the Yotes at csusbathletics.com and watch the matches on streaming live video on the CCAA Network.
