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Box Score 2 SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – The Lady Mustangs made it three straight victories following a sweep over CSU-San Marcos and the Western New Mexico University volleyball team started strong against No. 16 CSU-San Bernardino before falling in four to finish the Coyote Classic 3-1 on Saturday.
Unlike the previous two matches of this tournament in which the Lady Mustangs (5-3) lost the opening set, they quickly turned that around by winning going away in the first set on their way to sweeping Cal State-San Marcos (25-12, 25-21, 25-22).
It was an evenly distributed attack for WNMU with five players posting at least five kills in tallying a .287 hitting percentage. They limited the Cougars to a .130 hitting percentage.
In the first set, WNMU began to pull away at 5-all scoring five of the next six points to take a 10-6 lead.
Heather Verrill (Barstow, CA/Barstow ) started the spurt with a kill, as
Kelli McGhiey (Pearl City, HI/Sacred Hearts Academy ) and
Morgan Lyneis (Victorville, CA/Apple Valley) would also added kills before a service ace from McGhiey opened the four-point spread. Ahead seven at 19-12, the Lady Mustangs would roll up the final six points to take the set. Lyneis got things going with a kill and after a McGhiey service ace, Verrill took over having a hand in the next three points posting a solo block, kill, then double-block with Lyneis moving it to match point.
Barbara Soranzo (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil/Mestre Santa Barbara) sealed the set with a service ace for the 25-12 set win.
Cal State-San Marcos (3-4) came out firing in the second stanza, as they jumped out to a 6-1 lead. WNMU began to chip away, tying the set for the first time at 11 on a service ace by
Ashley Mataele (Laie, HI/Kahuku). The lead changed hands at 15-14 following an attack error. The teams would trade leads before the Lady Mustangs recorded a service error to boost them in front, 21-20. From that point on, it was all WNMU as they closed the set on a 4-1 run getting points from
Leeta Grap (Kamuela, HI/Hawaii Preparatory Academy), Mataele and
Sheila Menezes (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Escola Estadual Prof. Antonio Ablas Filho) to grab the set, 25-21 and open a 2-0 match lead.
WNMU moved ahead early on in the third set, with a service error giving them a 12-9 lead. The lead stretched to five at 16-11 on a Verrill kill. Following a run by the Cougars to come back to tie it at 17, it would remain close until 22-all when WNMU made their move. Verrill, like the first set, took over down the stretch as her kill broke the tie, then after an attack error, another kill by Verrill closed the set at 25-22 and gave WNMU the 3-0 match victory.
Menezes posted a team-high nine kills and hit .533. Verrill added eight kills and hit .538. Grap followed with seven, McGhiey with six and Lyneis with five, as she hit .400.
Melanie Hughes (Riverside, CA/Martin Luther King Jr.) tallied 25 assists, while
Chyler Imai (Kapaau, HI/Kohala) added 11. Soranzo had three service aces and both McGhiey and Mataele spun in two apiece. Mataele had 19 digs, while Verrill had five blocks, with one solo.
Jordan Banich had a match-high 13 kills to lead the Cougars.
To finish the weekend, WNMU went up again the No. 16 and host team CSU-San Bernardino (6-1). Following a strong opening set, the Coyotes came back to defeat the Lady Mustangs, 3-1 (25-19, 22-25, 12-25, 20-25).
With the first set tied at 10, WNMU would tally the next point on a service error and go on a run. Grap and Lyneis added kills, while Mataele spun in a service ace to push the Lady Mustangs ahead, 14-10. Verrill expanded the lead to five with a kill at 20-15 and ahead 22-18, WNMU would score three of the final four points for the set win. Lyneis posted a pair of kills and then combined with
Shannon Rich (Folsom, CA/Folsom) for a block to take the 25-19 opening set.
In the second set, Grap and Lyneis each posted kills to give WNMU two-point leads each time with the last one coming at 11-9. Following a spurt by CSU-San Bernardino, McGhiey helped knot the set at 13 with a kill. Despite the teams only tying one more time down the stretch, WNMU made a run at it late getting back to within one at 23-22 on a double-block by Verrill and Menezes, but the Coyotes would tally the final two points to take the set, 25-22.
The Coyotes owned the third set from the beginning, as they led the entire set to take the 25-12 victory and 2-1 match lead.
In the fourth set, the Lady Mustangs came out strong with Menezes collecting a pair of kills and another from Grap to take the early 5-2 lead. After a run by the Coyotes, WNMU would come back to tie a few times, with the last coming at 8-all on a kill by Grap. CSU-San Bernardino responded with the next three points and would control the set after that. WNMU fought back to within four late in the set, but the Coyotes closed the set for the 25-20 set win and 3-1 match victory.
Grap pounded out 16 kills to lead the way. McGhiey hit .412 and added seven kills, while Menezes and Lyneis had six apiece. Hughes and Imai were in double-digits in terms of assists with Hughes dishing out 32 and Imai with 10. Mataele posted 27 digs and in terms of blocks, Verrill had three blocks, two solo, while Lyneis and Rich added two block assists each.
Alexandra Torline led the Coyotes and all players with 22 kills, as CSU-San Bernardino had four players with double-digit kills.
After playing the first eight matches on the road, WNMU will return home to open RMAC play on Friday night against Colorado State University-Pueblo at 7 p.m.
