Riverside, Calif. - The Golden Eagles women's volleyball defeated Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) in straight sets, 25-19, 26-24, 25-20, to win their second consecutive regular season Cal Pac Championship.
With the victory, the Golden Eagles also secured the top seed in the conference tournament, which will start this Thursday, at La Sierra University.
Prior to the match, the women's volleyball team honored their three seniors (Robyn Miller, Lina Semaia, and Chantal Washington). Once the match started, the seniors closed out the regular season with a bang.
Senior Lina Semaia had a stellar performance with 20 kills on 43 attempts, with only six erros, for a hitting percentage of .326, to lead all players. Robyn Miller added 13 kills on 35 attempts, with only six errors, and a hitting percentage of .200.
La Sierra had four players finish in double figure in digs, led by senior Chantal Washington with 17 digs. Robyn Miller added 15 digs, followed by Erin Miller with 12 digs and Semaia with 10 digs.
In Set 1, the Golden Eagles jumped out to an early 4-0 lead and never looked backBy the midway point of the set, La Sierra extended their lead to 14-7, on their way to a 25-19 win.
The second set was the tightest of the three sets played. This time it was Embry-Riddle who jumped out to the early 3-0 lead. They would maintain that lead until the Golden Eagles were able to fight off two straight set points, to tie the score at 24-24. La Sierra would go on to score four straight points to finish off the set and steal the victory.
The final set was close throughout, until Embry-Riddle used an 8-3 run to take a 15-10 lead. But once again, La Sierra answered back with a 7-2 run of their own, tying the score at 17-17. They went on to close out the set and the match, by scoring eight of the next 11 points, capping off a 15-5 run.
For the second consecutive year, La Sierra (8-2 Cal Pac play) and Menlo College (8-2 Cal Pac play) have finished with identical regular season records. Since both teams defeated the other on their home court, La Sierra won the second step in the tiebreaker since they defeated the Oaks in straight sets and lost to the Oaks in four sets. The one set that the Golden Eagles won, at Menlo, secured them the top seed.
The four teams qualifying for the Cal Pac Conference Women's Volleyball Tournament are La Sierra University, Menlo College, Pacific Union College, and the University of California-Merced. With the first two seeds already determined, the last two seed are pending the outcome of today's match between the Pioneers and the Bobcats. If Pacific Union College wins today's match they will secure the third seed. UC Merced can win the third seed outright if they defeat the Pioneers in three or four sets.
Regardless of today's outcome, the Golden Eagles will play in the second semifinal match, this Thursday, starting at 8pm. Please stay tuned for more information as the week goes on.
