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For the second time in less than a week, Cal Poly Pomona defeated Cal State San Bernardino to advance in a tournament. Last week it was in the semifinals CCAA Tournament, and today it was in the first round of the NCAA West Regional.
The No. 4 seeded Broncos dropped the first game but came back to win in five sets over No. 5 Cal State San Bernardino, 21-25, 25-29, 25-21, 19-25, and 15-7. It was the first back-to-back victories for CPP over CSUSB since 2014.
Daisy Duke recorded a double-double with 21 kills and a season-high 19 digs. She was one of four Broncos to post 19 or more digs in the match. Samantha Campion had a career-high 34 digs with the season on the line. The 34 are nine more than her previous career-high.
Caitie Mueller registered a season-high in digs as well. The 2022 CCAA Newcomer of the Year had 23 digs to go along with her 42 assists. Avery Percival added 24 digs, Madison Novak chipped in with 16 kills, and Kaitlan Tucker had eight blocks.
Lydia Morohunfola and Jenna Patton led the Yotes with 15 and 16 kills, respectively. Both hit over .286, including Morohunfola, who hit .464 with just two errors in 28 attempts. Ashley Robinson added 13 kills, and Savannah Hoffman had nine. Marlee Nunley recorded her 15th double-double of the season with 47 assists and 14 digs.
At the end of the match, the stats were nearly even, with both teams posting 79 points, but the lack of errors and timely offensive efficiency was the difference in the win for CPP. The Yotes had 10 more attacking errors than the Broncos and many came at inopportune times.
CSUSB took the lead by winning the first set 25-21 and hitting .273. In the next two sets, the Yotes hit under .100 with 15 combined errors, while the Broncos made just seven hitting errors and .275.
Momentum swung back to Cal State San Bernardino in the fourth set after scoring seven of the eight final points. The Yotes had 18 kills in the stanza and held CPP a .086 hitting percentage.
The fifth set could not have been scripted better for the Broncos. They opened the set on a 5-0 run and pushed their lead to 9-2 before CSUSB could respond. The Yotes scored the next four points to cut their deficit to three (9-6), but they would get no closer as the Broncos closed the set on a 6-1 run.
Cal Poly Pomona will advance to the second round, where it will face the No. 8 seed, Chaminade, on Friday, Nov. 18, at 5 p.m.