SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – Women's volleyball (0-3) played in its second day of the Coyote classic with the two more games inside The Den this Friday. The Blue and Gold dropped the first fixture to the tournament hosts, as #25 CSU San Bernardino (3-0) took the win in straight sets (15-25, 20-25, 20-25). Their second match with Saint Martin's University (2-1) came with a strong start but sour ending, as VU's chance for a four-set win flipped into a five-set defeat (25-17, 21-25, 25-14, 16-25, 4-15) to conclude their second day at the Classic.
CSUSB 3 VU 0
What Happened? The Lions were stumped for most of the first set, as the hosting Coyotes hit at a .483 mark with only two errors to win the set by 10 points, 25-15.
Julia Ringenberg had the first kill of the afternoon on a quick dump to keep VU behind by one at 3-2, but the home side stayed a few points out of reach over the next few rallies. Two CSUSB errors and an ace from Ringenberg leveled things at 8-8, but the Coyotes outscored the Lions 17-7 the rest of the interval.
Though down a set, some intel was gained by the Blue and Gold, who looked better after the period break.
Abigayle Gotwals recorded the first kill of the frame, and
Kayla Robinson cashed in with one on the next rally to put the Lions up 2-1. Vanguard remained at the heels of CSUSB, as six ties occurred over the next phase, but the damage was done after the score was knotted at 8-8. The Coyotes surged to an 18-11 advantage, yet the Lions sprung a late battle on their foes.
Saniyah Neal and
Daphne Raymond struck for kills, and strikes for
Haylee Long and Robinson reeled the gap down to 20-16 with throwdowns of their own. CSUSB eased over the line first to take the set 25-20, but the Lions had improved in the attack to a .366 rate with 18 kills and three errors on 41 attempts. CSUSB hit .343.
The final frame saw the Blue and Gold stay competitive until the last few rallies, as the two sides walked the score almost evenly to 13-13. Gotwals thumped down a ball after an attack error by CSUSB to put the Lions ahead 15-13, though the Coyotes leveled out the score again a few plays later at 16-16. Though the hosts grabbed the lead after that, their own mistakes allowed VU to tie the set at 19-19. But Vanguard could not get beyond 20 points, as the Coyotes scored six of the final seven points to complete the sweep. VU had a .000 rating in the third, while the hosts had a .205 hitting rate.
VU hit .179 for the contest, while the Coyotes ended with a .330 result. Robinson connected for 10 of Vanguard's 37 kills to lead the squad, and with no errors on 17 swings, she led all players with double-digit attempts with a .588 efficiency mark. Gotwals had eight kills, with
Meadow Hobbs and Long next with six each. Ringenberg had 16 helpers, while
Macy Kavanaugh had nine. Neal had two of the squad's four block assists, and
Kate Fagundes was second in the match with 13 digs.
SMU 3 VU 2
VU opened on a smooth .273 (14-5-33) hitting percentage holding the Saints to .000 (7-7-33). The pairing still matched stride in the early stages however, with SMU holding an early three-point lead (9-6) after an errorless start. Their first miscue came one point later, off a Gotwals, Robinson double-block and kickstarted a 5-2 VU run. Ringenberg rattled consecutive aces during the charge as the Lions drew level 11-all. VU jumped ahead with a Long kill and fashioned a 4-0 run to initiate control. The Lions made it a 9-4 push before SMU eventually called for time (20-15 VU). VU would only surrender one kill on the way to winning the set 25-17.
The second frame was scrappy for both sides with SMU's .111 clip (12-8-36) to VU's .057 (21-11-35). The Saints made up the difference at the net (4-2 blocks) and minimized service errors (1-3 SMU) to pull a match back. The Saints once again had the stronger start, placing three on the board before a pair of attack errors gave VU a stake in the set. Ringenberg set up Hobbs before tipping a dump across to level the score at 4-4. The tightknit tempo proved true for the bulk of the frame, as VU's influential 6-2 run was canceled out by a 6-2 answer from the Saints to make it 16-13 SMU. VU aimed to keep it close with a quick timeout, but SMU squared off back to back points out of the restart to take their largest lead of the set 18-13. Vanguard's best push back was a 5-1 run, to bring themselves within one (19-18 SMU). This time it was Saint Martin's turn to burn a timeout, with the Saints making no mistakes in a 6-3 finish to take the stanza.
Set three was Vanguard's largest match win of the night as they kept the attacking errors down to just four, to hit .280 (11-4-25). They also bolted a match-best five aces in the third period. Ringenberg got the ace party going with a dart to the back corner to put the set in motion. SMU maintained its role as the early pacesetter in the set however, squeezing out a tight 5-4 lead with three kills and a Vanguard error. That was the final Saint lead of the set. By the time SMU could find its next kill, VU clocked a fast 4-0 run. The Saint tag to make 9-7 VU proved nearly a pitstop as Ringenberg planted aces two and three of period to trigger another 4-0 Lion run. SMU could only muster three kills for the remainder of the set as Vanguard coined a commanding 25-14 win.
The coin flipped completely in set four, as the Saints rolled over VU 25-16 with a polished .308 (11-3-26) hitting percentage. They also returned the favor at the service line, blanking the Lions in 4-0 ace split. VU had 2-0 start and a pair of kills of McQuoid in an early 5-5 scoreline. After Gotwals pinched the second tie of the frame (6-6), VU found it difficult to keep up as the Saints slapped a 6-2 rollout on the back of two aces to go up 12-8. McQuoid had more answers from the pin to try to keep the set within three to four points, but the Saints smacked a 4-1 run on the scoresheet to leave the Lions down by six (19-13 SMU). Saint Martin used two VU errors and its final ace of the set to rack in a 6-1 run to force set five.
The Saints used the momentum from set four to unload a dominant finish in San Bernardino, with a faultless .625 (5-0-8) rate overshadowing VU's .300 (4-1-10) hitting percentage. The hot hand from the service line remained, as Vanguard's back row defense could not thwart a 5-0 ace advantage from SMU. Kills from McQuoid, Robinson and Gotwals made up an errorless Vanguard start, but VU's service errors kept the Saints in front 4-3. The crucial stretch came moments later, as two Vanguard timeouts could not stop the bleeding as a fearsome 4-0 SMU put the Lions down by 6 (9-3). With no timeouts left, the Saint Martin service pressure continued, as the Saints issued four aces on their next five points to snip the five-set win over the Blue and Gold.
The Lions led in kills (51-42), assists (49-34) and digs (52-45). Saint Martin had the edge in aces (11-9), block assists (18-12) and had fewer service errors (5-14). Robinson put down 12 kills to lead all scorers and hit .500 (12-2-20). Gotwals had a double-double with 11 kills and 13 digs. McQuoid added eight kills with Long posting seven. Ringenberg led the setters with 27 assists and Kavanaugh also penciled in a double-double with 16 assists and 11 digs.
What's Next? The Lions conclude their time at the Coyote Classic against CSU Los Angeles tomorrow at 12 pm.
