Whether Cal State San Bernardino hosts visiting women's volleyball teams in the spacious Coussoulis Arena or in the cozy confines of the old gym called The Den, the result for visitors is the same.
Thursday night, the Yotes swept past CCAA conference member Cal State Monterey Bay 3-0 (25-18, 25-9, 25-17) to improve their regular season home victory streak to 66 matches.
CSUSB, ranked No. 10 in the nation, is now 9-2 on the season, 2-1 in the CCAA. The Otters slipped to 3-7 overall and 0-3 in the CCAA. The Yotes lead the all-time series with the Otters, 34-1, since the start of the 2001 season.
The last time a Yotes volleyball team lost a regular season home watch was Sept. 12, 2015 to then CCAA member UC San Diego. Overall, including post-season tournaments, the Yotes are 85-2 on their home court since the start of the 2015 season.
Coming up big for CSUSB against the Otters was junior outside hitter
Savannah Hoffmann, who tied her career best effort with 13 kills while hitting .650 for the match. Six of Hoffmann's kills came in the first set. Hoffmann also had 13 kills in a win over then No. 3 Metro State earlier this month. Middle blocker
Taryn King was on target with eight kills in 10 attempts (.800) to go with three block assists.
Senior middle blocker
Jenna Patton contributed seven kills on .294 hitting with three block assists. Senior setter
Marlee Nunley posted a match-high 26 assists to go with two block assists and four digs.
Shira Lahav had a match high 14 digs for the Yotes.
"Marlee set a great match, really evidenced by our team's fantastic attack percentage. Sarah and Taryn both turned in dominate offensive performances."
CSUSB hit .398 for the match while Monterey Bay hit just .119. The Otters were plagued by 21 attack errors and seven service errors in the match.
"Very happy to win our conference home opener," said Head Coach
Kim Cherniss. "Monterey Bay is an extremely tenacious defensive team and we knew we would need to be very efficient offensively in order to win the match."
Leading 4-2 in the second set, the Yotes ran off 11 straight points to lead 15-2 as freshman outside hitter
Trinity Sheridan served nine straight points in the run. Minutes later, a kill by junior opposite hitter
Allison Whiteman put the Yotes up 20-4. Sheridan and Patton closed out set two with a kill each.
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The Yotes opened up a 6-2 lead early in the third set on two service aces by Lahav. Hoffmann's kill made it 10-7 and a combined block by Hoffmann and King made it 11-7. Blocks by King and freshman Kacie Pederson and a kill by Pederson improved the lead to 17-9 before the Otters responded with a kill.
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Later, Pederson and Patton combined on a block to make it 23-14. Patton closed out the match at 25-17 with a kill off an assist by junior setter
Kylie Thomas.
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"Kacie and Shira were very steady in serve-receive to get us those offensive opportunities," Cherniss said.
UP NEXT: CSUSB will host Cal State East Bay a 5 p.m. in The Den in a CCAA contest.
East Bay lost to San Francisco State 3-0 Thursday night and is now 0-3 in the CCAA and 4-6 overall.
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