By Gavin Claiborne & Ryan Leon, Nov. 26, 2024
Cal Poly Pomona women’s volleyball team claimed the outright title of California Collegiate Athletics Association regular-season champions, and Head Coach Traci Dahl earned her 100th career win after defeating San Francisco State 3-1.
After earning a share of the title last weekend with defeats over Cal State LA and Cal State Dominguez Hills, the No.3-ranked Broncos needed one win over Cal State San Bernardino or No.19-ranked SFSU to become the outright conference champion.
In the first matchup of the weekend, the Yotes snapped the Broncos’ 18-game win streak after a dominant performance at the net to secure the 3-1 victory.
“We haven’t taken a loss since Central Washington, and it felt the same to me; the pain was there in everybody’s faces, everybody felt it,” Dahl said. “I think it was a very quick turnaround, but we knew that’s the kind of volleyball that we had to play, if not better, to beat San Francisco (State), to be outright champions.”
CSUSB held CPP to a .155 hitting percentage on the night behind a season-high 15 blocks to the Broncos’ four, the most from an opponent all season.
“For the first time this season, a team challenged us offensively at the net, and I don’t think we adjusted fast enough,” outside hitter Samantha Campion said. “(Cal State San Bernardino) has been a great team year in and out, so as long as we learn from this loss, I don’t think it can hurt us in the long run. In a sense, it even takes some of the pressure off of being undefeated. We’re playing with nothing to lose and everything to gain.”
Sophomore outside hitter Sarah Ybarra finished with a double-double performance of 19 kills and 19 digs, Campion had 17 kills on a .250 hitting percentage and outside hitter Charlotte Koerber registered a season-high 18 digs in the losing effort.
Senior libero Jenna O’Shea tied her career-high with four service aces on the night to surpass the 100 career aces mark.
O’Shea attributed her success behind the line to the time she dedicated to scouting the opposing teams’ passers in preparation for in-game situations and her confidence from practice translating to games.
“Hitting the 100 career aces mark is really exciting because I have been in the serving sub role for my whole college career, and I have put a lot of work into owning it and trying to provide for the team by getting aces,” O’Shea said.
CPP responded in a must-win matchup on the road against SFSU and overwhelmed the Gators offensively, hitting at a commanding .304 hitting percentage in a 3-1defeat for the sole title of regular-season champions.
CPP currently ranks first in the CCAA in points per set with 19.02 and is tied for first in hitting percentage with SFSU.
The Broncos held a 23-20 lead in the first set as the second-place Gators rallied behind two kills and an attacking error by CPP to tie the game at 23-23.
Two consecutive kills by middle blocker Alexia Athans and Campion closed out the set 26-24.
CPP registered 18 kills in the first set to SFSU’s 12 kills.
The Gators found momentum heading into the second set offensively with 16 kills and three errors to the Broncos’ 10 kills and five errors.
SFSU held the lead the entire set and tied the match 1-1 behind five consecutive kills by right side hitter Tamiya Wilson and outside hitter Izzy Issak for a 25-17 advantage.
The Broncos responded to the pressure with 31 combined kills in the next two sets with only four attack errors to win 25-19 and 25-20.
The 3-1 victory over SFSU served as a historic career milestone for Dahl, as she earned her 100th career win and improved to 100-37 overall over the past six years at CPP.
“I think having 100 wins at Cal Poly Pomona has a lot to do with my team, my staff and the commitment everybody has to making this program a national prominent program,” Dahl said. “I don’t necessarily look at that number like it’s anything different. We got the win, and that’s all that matters.”
Three student-athletes registered double-digits kills — Ybarra led the team with 18 kills, Koerber followed closely behind with 17 and Campion completed the trio with 14 kills without an attacking error.
Setter Caitie Mueller received her fifth CCAA Setter of the Week award this season for registering 89 assists over the weekend, including her fourth double-double performance of the season with 46 assists and 11 digs.
Dahl said her team’s balanced offense has been vital for them thus far, but there’s still room for improvement.
“We’re going to have more and more blockers leaving on our pins, but we’re also working on how to deal with that in practice and getting our middles more involved,” Dahl said. “Caitie does a really nice job of seeing her middle on the other side of the net and positioning her hitters to be successful.”
The Broncos improved to 23-2 overall and 17-1 in CCAA play to receive the No. 1 seed heading into the CCAA tournament where they will face the winner of CSUSB and Cal State LA in the semifinals Nov. 22.
Featured photo courtesy of Tom Zasadzinski