SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The California State University San Bernardino women's volleyball team defeated the Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks in their season opener Thursday afternoon at Point Loma Nazarene's Golden Gymnasium on the first day of the San Diego Invitational in straight sets, 25-10, 25-17 and 25-18.
With the win, the Coyotes open the season at 1-0.
The first set was the most dominant for CSUSB despite a slow start. The Yotes would score their first point of the season from a kill from redshirt freshman Sarai Ross (Beaumont, Calif.) to knot the score at 1-1, and the teams traded blows until the set was tied at 10-10. A kill from M'Kera Drake (San Bernardino, Calif.) opened a set-clinching 15-0 run to secure the 1-0 lead. Senior Abbey Clarke (Oswego, Ill.) had a pair of service aces during the run, while the Yotes had an attack percentage of .444 for the set.
Senior Jordan Cherniss (Colton, Calif.) had four kills without an error in set number two to help the Coyotes take a commanding 2-0 lead. Sophomore Jaiden Van Horn (Elk Ridge, Utah) dished out five assists with a service ace, while libero Jayden Chornomud (Canyon Lake, Calif.) notched six digs.
CSUSB would continue to look strong in the third set, and recorded 14 kills, which was the most in any set of the match. The Coyotes would finish the match by scoring four consecutive points, including a match-clinching block by Allison Legates (Los Altos, Calif.) and graduate student Savannah Hoffmann (Rialto, Calif.).
In all, CSUSB ended the match with 36 kills and a .294 hitting percentage and forced the Nighthawks to record more attack errors than kills, and 14 blocks.
Ross led the team with nine kills in the win, while sophomore Kisa Sagiao (San Diego, Calif.) had eight kills without an error on 12 attempts for a .667 attack percentage. Van Horn and redshirt junior Birdie Alford (Tallahassee, Fla.) split the setting duties, notching 15 and 11 assists respectively without an error.
Up next, the Coyotes continue with the San Diego Invitational with a match against Emporia State on Friday. First serve is set for 3 p.m.
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