麻豆传媒社区入口

Senior Roxanne Neely led the Pioneers to the upset win with 16 kills, 25 assists and three aces. (Photo: Ron Allen)

• October 9, 2010

HAYWARD, Calif. - A tremendous team performance enabled the 麻豆传媒社区入口 women's volleyball to stun CCAA leader and No. 4 Cal State San Bernardino in five sets on Oct. 9. The Pioneers handed the Coyotes their first conference defeat of the season and snapped their 11-game winning streak with the 26-24, 14-25, 25-23, 19-25, 15-13 win.

With the victory, the Pioneers end the first half of CCAA play with a 7-4 record. The Pioneers are 12-4 for the season.

The Pioneers had three players with 12 or more kills in the victory. Roxanne Neely, who led the Pioneers with 16 kills while adding 25 assists and three service aces, was overwhelmed with the victory.

"This is the biggest win of my four-year playing career at 麻豆传媒社区入口," Neely said. "The team came back from an off night and played well throughout the match. This was definitely a team effort."

Jit Athwal followed Neely with 15 kills while Katie Allen contributed to the victory with 13 kills, a .400 hitting percentage and two service aces. Lauren Massa was solid on defense with 26 digs.

K.C. Walsh had six kills, 31 assists, and five blocks. Kitona Offord recorded five blocks while Brianna Bryant put down seven kills and had two blocks.

"Our kids bounced back from a four-set defeat to Cal Poly Pomona and played their hearts out to beat a team like Cal State San Bernardino," Pioneer coach Jim Spagle said. "We made great adjustments tonight. Our players stepped up to accomplish this tremendous victory."

Cal State San Bernardino, which hit .355 on the night, was led by Nicole Moore with a match-high 19 kills. Jane Chafeh followed with16 kills while Samantha Middleborn and Megan Johnson had 13 each. Middleborn recorded four block solos. Kelcie Tolan had 20 digs from the libero position.

In the first set, the Pioneers overcame a 15-9 deficit to tie the set 18-18 following an Allen kill. With the score tied 24-24, East Bay scored the next two points to take the first set on a Katie Glomb service ace and an Offord kill.

The Coyotes led throughout in the second set to tie thematch. Chafeh had seven kills including five straight successful attacks in thesecond set.

East Bay led 18-12 lead and increased its margin to 24-20 on a Walsh kill in the third set. Cal State San Bernardino scored three unanswered point to narrow the gap to 24-23. A bad set by the Coyotes gave the Pioneers a 2-1 advantage in the match.

Cal State San Bernardino took an early 3-1 lead and never looked back in taking the fourth set. Megan Johnson put down a kill to give the Coyotes the fourth set and tie the match 2-2.

The Pioneers jumped out of the gate in the fifth set, scoring the first three points. Neely's kill gave the Pioneers an 11-7 advantage. The Coyotes narrowed the gap to 12-11. Consecutive kills by Neely and Allen increased East Bay's lead to 14-12. Cal State San Bernardino cut East Bay's advantage to 14-13 on a Moore kill. Allen, on an assist from Walsh, sealed the Pioneer victory with her 13th kill of the match.

East Bay will begin the second half of CCAA play with a pair of road matches at Humboldt State on Oct. 15 and Sonoma State on Oct. 16.

"To succeed in the second half of CCAA play, we need to approach practice with a purpose," Spagle said. "It's all about playing together. Our maturity will determine where we go in the second half."