The Riverside Press-Enterprise
THE FINAL SWING
With many momentum changes, CSUSB has last word, beats Cal Poly
There were huge swings of momentum throughout Saturday evening’s women’s volleyball match between California Collegiate Athletic Association rivals Cal State San Bernardino and Cal Poly Pomona.
But momentum was firmly on the side of Cal State San Bernardino during the latter stages of the fifth and final set.
Senior middle blocker Taryn King registered a solo block and two block assists in that decisive game, as the Coyotes outlasted Cal Poly Pomona 25-20, 16-25, 25-21, 15-25, 15-8 in a battle of nationally ranked teams at Coussoulis Arena.
The two squads now find themsleves tied for second place in the conference standings, one game behind Cal State LA.
Cal State San Bernardino (13-3, 6-2) finished the night with 13 blocks. King led the way for the Yotes at the net with one solo block and seven block assists. She was in on back-to-back blocks that helped gave Cal State San Bernardino an 8-4 lead in the fifth set.
“We did a really great job defending at the net, especially at the very end,” Yotes coach Kim Cherniss said. “We put some good pressure on them from the service line, and that compromised what they were looking to do.”
King gave Cal State San Bernardino a 5-4 advantage in that final set with her fourth kill of the match. The Coyotes never relinquished the lead, as seven players recorded at least one kill during that set.
Cal Poly Pomona (13-3, 6-2) hurt its chance for a late comeback with three service errors in the back half of the fifth set.
“It boils down to errors in the fifth set ... unforced errors,” Broncos coach Traci Dahl said. “You can’t miss serves against any good team in the fifth set. Period . ... It’s little things like that, against a team like San Bernardino, you just can’t give them a breath.”
Cal State San Bernardino raced to a 10-3 lead and never trailed in the opening set. Junior outside hitter Ashley Robinson led the attack with five kills and was on the service line for a key run at the start of the game. A