By Christian Magdaleno, Oct. 1, 2024
Cal Poly Pomona women’s volleyball team defeated rival No.19 Cal State San Bernardino in the California Collegiate Athletics Association conference opener, following the ranked win with a sweep over San Francisco State at Kellogg Arena Sept. 22.
The last time No.13 CPP faced CSUSB was last year in post-season play where the Yotes eliminated the Broncos in the National Collegiate Athletic Association regional quarterfinal and in the CCAA tournament semifinals.
The Broncos defeated the Yotes in the CCAA tournament semifinals on the way to the program’s first championship title and an automatic bid spot to the NCAA tournament in 2022, developing a sense of rivalry between the two teams.
CPP entered conference play with a 6-1 preseason record, while the Yotes came in with a 4-3 record.
The Broncos went undefeated against ranked opponents in the Coyote Challenge Sept. 5-7, taking down No. 10 St. Cloud State, No.12 Chaminade and No.19 Seattle Pacific.
The Broncos had a strong start against CSUSB holding a 19-11 lead midway through the first set, but struggled to maintain it near the end, allowing the Yotes to tie the game 24-24.
The Yotes scored two back-to-back kills against the Broncos, giving them a 1-0 lead in this match.
Despite dropping the first set, the Broncos held their composure and came back to win the match 3-1.
Head coach Traci Dahl said the team’s defensive ability and maturity allowed the team to build momentum.
“We are really good volleyball players,” Dahl said. “They were transitioning really well tonight, and we served. We served tough. In the beginning we had a hard time blocking some balls, but that turned around in the second, third and fourth set.”
The Broncos nearly doubled their attacking percentage from .184 in the first set to .382 in the second set, dominating the Yotes 25-12 to tie the match 1-1.
“In that first set, it was a little shaky, but we just got our first home game and home opener jitters out,” outside hitter Sarah Ybarra said.
Ybarra recorded 16 digs and 19 kills, to earn her third double-double this season.
Outside hitter duo Madison Novak and Samantha Campion each contributed 13 kills and double-digit digs.
Setter Caitie Mueller earned 45 total assists against CSUSB, averaging 12 assists per set on the weekend to her seventh career CCAA Setter of the Week award.
Mueller is 205 assists away from becoming the seventh all-time in the program’s history.
Ybarra said the conference rivalry gave the Broncos insight into how the Yotes played and the experience of facing other ranked teams prepared the team.
“We just like to go hard until there’s no more,” Ybarra said. “We just like to bulldoze them… We just want to run over these teams because we know if we just shove it down their throats, they are just going to have to deal with it.”
The momentum carried over into the second match against SF State.
In the first set against SF, the Broncos fell behind 22-21 before Ybarra and Novak combined for two kills late to regain the lead 24-22. Novak closed out the first set with her ninth kill to give the Broncos a 1-0 advantage.
The two remaining sets favored the Broncos by a larger deficit, 25-17 in the second set and 25-21 in the third.
CPP had another strong offensive night. Novak scored her third double-double of the season and registered a season-high 18 kills and three aces. Ybarra and Campion tied for 10 kills, two blocks and 11 digs on the night.
Campion reached the 700-career-kills milestone and is 18 digs shy of the 800-career-digs mark.
Although the Broncos maintained the momentum throughout the match, the Gators did not go down without a fight.
SF State scored six consecutive points to take the lead 15-13 in the third set, but it was short-lived as CPP responded with their own six-point streak to take the lead back.
Senior libero Avery Percival collected 14 digs to put her at 952 career digs, only three away from entering the program’s top 10 all time.
The Broncos swept the Gators 3-0, moving to 8-1on the season and 2-0 in conference play.
The win against SF State marked the 50th conference win for Dahl. In her fifth season leading the program, she is 50-23 in conference and 85-36 overall.
CPP and Stanislaus State are the only two teams undefeated in the conference after the opening weekend. The Warriors’ overall record is 9-1.
The Broncos traveled on the road to face Cal State Dominguez Hills Sept. 27 and No. 17 Cal State LA Sept. 28.
Feature photo courtesy of Christian Magdaleno