SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - #14 Cal State San Bernardino women's volleyball completed an unbeaten opening weekend of CCAA play with a 3-0 victory over Cal State East Bay Saturday evening at Kim Cherniss Court at Coussoulis Arena. Set scores were 25-20, 25-15, and 25-21.
With the victory, the Coyotes improve to 9-0 overall and 2-0 in conference play.
The opening set featured seven ties and four lead changes. Cal State East Bay held a 12-10 advantage before CSUSB scored four straight points, including a kill by junior Kisa Sagiao and a solo block from senior Allison Legates, to move ahead 14-12.
The Pioneers later pulled within one at 17-16, but a service error, junior Jaiden Van Horn's first ace of the match, and a kill by senior M'Kera Drake extended the CSUSB lead to 20-16. Cal State East Bay cut the margin to 22-20 before Drake added another kill and the Coyotes closed the set with consecutive blocks.
CSUSB recorded 12 kills and four errors in the first set while holding the Pioneers to a .081 hitting percentage. Drake and senior Kacie Pedersen led the Coyotes with three kills apiece.
The Coyotes took control early in set two, breaking a 3-3 tie with an 8-2 run. Legates capped the stretch with a service ace that gave CSUSB an 11-5 advantage. The lead reached 10 points at 21-11 following Van Horn's second ace of the set.
CSUSB sided out on 14 of Cal State East Bay's 15 serves and hit .455 in the second set, finishing with 13 kills and three errors on 22 attempts. Freshman Lilly Hartman recorded four kills on five swings, while Sagiao had three kills on three attempts.
Cal State East Bay scored the first two points of set three before CSUSB responded with three straight. The Coyotes later built a 13-9 lead, but the Pioneers pulled even at 20-20 with a 4-0 run.
CSUSB answered by scoring five of the final six points. Hartman recorded a service ace and Drake added a kill during the closing stretch before sophomore libero Saniyah Sobers ended the match with an ace.
The Coyotes hit .333 in the third set and limited Cal State East Bay to a .161 mark. Pedersen and Sagiao each recorded three kills without an error in the set.
CSUSB finished with 37 kills and 10 attack errors on 84 attempts for a .321 hitting percentage. The Coyotes held the Pioneers to .144 and finished with advantages in kills, 37-32, digs, 35-30, and total blocks, 5-3.
Sagiao led CSUSB with nine kills, while Hartman and Pedersen added eight apiece. Hartman hit .500 and Pedersen finished at .412 with eight digs. Van Horn recorded a match-high 21 assists, eight digs and three service aces, while junior McKenna Edwards added eight assists, five digs and three kills on three attempts.
The Coyotes will travel to Fresno Pacific for the first ever CCAA match between the two schools on Friday at 7 p.m. inside the Special Events Center.
