Photo by Jena Rouser/Toro Athletics
By Jessica Olvera
Assistant Sports Editor
In a back and forth contest Friday night at home, the CSUDH women’s volleyball team came away with a four-set win (25-23, 21-25, 25-23, 25-15) against conference opponent Cal Poly Pomona to complete the season sweep for the first time since 2006.
The victory keeps alive the Toros’ slim hopes of advancing to the postseason for only the second time in program history. At 5-7 in California Collegiate Athletic Association action (12-7 overall), the team trails fourth-seed UC San Diego in the south division by 2.5 games. The Toros have five games remaining while the Tritons have four, but they do play each other Nov. 9 in San Diego.
However, for any chance of that game holding postseason significance, the Toros need UC San Diego to lose at least three of their final four games, and they must win their remaining five. That includes tonight’s game at home against undefeated Cal State San Bernardino, the top-ranked team in Division II and a team that, since 2000, is 39-0 against the Toros. The Coyotes have been so dominant this century, that they have only dropped 10 sets in those 39 contests.
A tough road indeed, but the Toros rose to the challenge Friday, beating Cal Poly Pomona (6-14, 4-9) in four close sets.
In a tense first set that featured 11 ties, the last one at 18-18, the
The Toros jumped out to a four-point lead to open the second set, but it was another close one as the teams were tied at 19-19. But keyed by sophomore setter Kira Zimmeran, who had 40 assists on the night, the Broncos went on a 5-1 run to even the match at a set apiece.
Freshman Jazminn Parrish who leads the Broncos in kills, had a big match with 18 kills and 11 digs, but her two attack errors late in the third set allowed the Toros to break a 23-23 tie and pull out the victory..
In the fourth set, the Toros jumped to a 7-1 lead and never lost momentum as they secured the season-sweep over the Broncos with a 10-point victory.
“I think once they gained momentum, they [players] never really looked back,” head coach Jennifer Adeva said. “They [players] relied on their strength which is blocking, and once we felt like we had control and knew where we could attack, we just kept doing it.”
Sophomore Rylee Brown led the Toros with 15 kills and was one dig short of a double-double for the night. Benitez-Fanslow contributed 14 kills and eight digs
The Toros face undefeated Cal State San Bernardino at 7 p.m.
