Volleyball’s season came to an end Friday evening as Cal Poly Pomona fell 3-0 to No. 2 ranked Western Washington in the NCAA Division II West Regional Volleyball semifinals in Bellingham, Washington.
The tournament started on Thursday evening for Cal Poly as it faced Azusa Pacific in the West Region quarterfinals.
Broncos won the five-set thriller (22-25, 26-24, 19-25, 30-28, 18-16) to advance to the semifinals.
Kristen Hamlin was a huge part of that as she tied the program’s single-match record with an impressive 33 kills.
Andrea Bosnic and Desi Martin each had 11 kills while Jenna Goldsberry slammed 10 kills of her own.
Personal records were also met as Kira Zimmerman dished out a season-high 65 assists and Chloe Fields-Owens contributed on the defensive end with a career-high 24 digs.
In Friday’s matchup, both teams played extremely aggressively as each set was determined by three points or less.
An early 7-2 lead forced Cal Poly to call a quick timeout.
The Broncos came out of the huddle with three back-to-back kills from Hamlin and Bosnic to cut the Vikings lead to just two.
Late in the first set, the Broncos went on a 3-0 run and the score was all knotted at 20 apiece and then again at 21.
Unfortunately, CPP was never able to take a lead in the set, and the Broncos fell to the Vikings, 25-22.
The second frame was another nail-biter as there were five lead changes and nine ties.
Cal Poly jumped out to an early 6-4 lead, but that lead was taken away quickly by a 5-0 run from the Vikings.
Midway through the set the score was all even at 14.
The Vikings slammed the ball over the net, but senior libero Alex Bollier laid her body out on the floor and dug out the ball to keep the play alive, which lead to a block from Bosnic and a one-point lead for CPP.
“We have great attackers,” Bollier said. “We always push ourselves and our teammates. We have really good chemistry offensively and defensively in the gym, and we’ve just been pushing each other all year.”
A late 6-0 run by the Vikings allowed them to go up 24-19, but the Broncos looked to even up the game as they fought off four set points to pull within one.
Cal Poly fell just short as a kill by Western Washington ended the second set 25-23 and put the Vikings up 2-0.
The third and final set was just as intense, with the Broncos leaving everything they had on the floor.
With the score sitting at 20 even, both teams seemed to be in a seesaw battle, slamming down one kill after the other.
Two attack errors by both teams put the score at 24 apiece, but the Vikings were able to pull away once again, ending the set 26-24 and earning themselves a trip to Saturday’s West Region Final to take on Cal State San Bernardino.
Cal Poly will say goodbye to five seniors: Hamlin, Bosnic, Bollier, Martin and Goldsberry.
Bosnic finished her collegiate career with another double-double, 12 kills and 17 digs. Hamlin finished the night with 13 kills, while Ally Wilder had seven. Bollier had a game high 18 digs.
In her final season as head coach, Rosie Wegrich commented on this year’s team. “It has been a fun process to be a part of this team,” she said. “It has been a journey that I couldn’t have written any better. I am just so proud of the whole team.”
The Broncos’ memorable season concluded with a 24-6 record, which tied the most wins in a single season since 2005.
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