Fullerton, Calif. - Coming off of their first victory of the season, a 3-1 win over Pacific Union College on Monday night, the Golden Eagles were looking to carry that momentum into tonight's match at Hope International University. And carry it over they did, with a straight set victory (25-21, 25-20, 25-22) over the Royals, in Fullerton, CA.
The first set was the closest of all three sets, consisting of 11 tie scores and six lead changes. Neither team enjoyed a lead greater than three points until Abby Latuhoi's kill secured the 25-21 win in Set 1.
La Sierra followed that up with a relatively dominating performance in the second set. With the score tied 12-12 midway through the set, the Golden Eagles put together an 11-5 run to take a commanding 23-16 lead, on their way to a 25-20 win in Set 2.
Similar to the first set, Set 3 was a tight battle throughout with eight tie scores and four lead changes. Seemingly, every La Sierra run was answered by a run from the Royals, who twice erased deficits of three and four points late in the set. With the score tied at 22-22, the Golden Eagles took advantage of two attack errors by the Royals on either side of a Lina Semaia serving ace, extending the current win streak to two straight.
Once again, it was Lina Semaia who led La Sierra with 13 kills. She also contributed seven block assists and a match-high four service aces. Robyn Miller tallied 13 digs, eight kills, two block assists, and a service ace.
Erin Miller also joined the hit parade with six kills to go along with nine digs and one service ace. And Abby Latuhoi finished with six kills of her own, including six block assists and one solo block.
Setter Angie Gonzalez had an efficient match with 27 assists on the Golden Eagles 34 kills, while libero Chantel Washington added 16 digs to lead all players.
As a team the Golden Eagles had a strong attack percentage through the first two sets, totaling 26 kills with only six errors on 76 total attempts. They struggled a bit in the third set, but were still able to do enough to pull out another victory.
With a record of 2-6 (1-0 Cal Pac), the women's volleyball team will now have 10 days away from action to prepare for non-conference rival Cal State San Marcos. The Cougars will visit the Alumni Pavilion on Saturday night, September 20, at 8pm. San Marcos is currently 12-5 and receiving votes in the preseason NAIA national volleyball rankings.
