Riverside, Calif. – After a disappointing loss to open the conference season, the women's volleyball team answered back with an impressive straight set victory over Pacific Union College (9-8, 0-2), in front of a packed house, at the Alumni Pavilion. The win pushed the Golden Eagles record to 5-4 overall and a record of 1-1 in Cal Pac play.
The team jumped out quick and early against the Pioneers, with a 9-0 lead to start Set 1, cruising to a 25-17 win. The Pioneers were able to muster a little momentum heading into Set 2, but the Golden Eagles were able to pull out the set victory 25-20. In Set 3, it was the Pioneers who jumped out early, taking a 4-0 lead right out of the gates. La Sierra closed the gap and tied the score at 7-7. After the two teams exchanged the lead a few times, La Sierra used a 4-0 run with the score tied 14-14 and they never looked back. Despite the Pioneers surviving the first match point for La Sierra and cutting the lead to 23-24, La Sierra closed things out by winning the set 25-23 and taking the match 3-0.
The team was paced by outside hitter Samantha Marquez who led all players with 10 kills. Also contributing was Erin Miller who added nine kills, just two errors, on 16 attempts for a .438 hitting percentage. Miller, who returned to the line-up after being out for three matches, also pitched in with eight digs and three block assists.
Middle hitter Abby Latuhoi tallied seven kills and made her presence felt defensively by compiling three solo blocks and two block assists. Caitlin Marinos added six kills and 11 digs, while Taylor Moran got in on the action with five kills two digs and five block assists.
Smriti Sharma got the call at the setting position and did an efficient job of running the offense with 30 assists, including two aces and nine digs.
Amanda Loeffler who finished with nine kills and 13 digs led the Pioneers.
As a team, the Golden Eagles dominated the play at the net with 10 total team blocks compared to four for the Pioneers. Also notable is the total of service aces La Sierra tallied (8) compared to one for Pacific Union.
The team will play two non-conference matches this week, before travelling to Embry-Riddle University (Ariz.) for their next Cal Pac test. The Golden Eagles will also become road warriors over the next two weeks as they will play six straight matches on the road. The team will return home on October 20, when they play host to Providence Christian College.
