Riverside, Calif. – The women's volleyball team defeated the University of California – Merced, 3-2 (22-25, 25-23, 25-19, 19-25, 15-13), in last night's Cal Pac Tournament semifinal match-up. Outside hitter Caitlin Marinos had a career night and a match she won't soon forget (and neither will the rest of us), as she led the team to victory with 25 kills, 27 digs, two aces and 1.5 blocks. Her 25 kills came against only four attack errors on 54 total attempts for a magnificent hitting percentage of .389.
Set 1 started out with both teams sharing the lead, until La Sierra built a little bit of a cushion, to jump out to an 18-12 lead. But the Bobcats put together a timely 9-2 run that saw them take a 21-20 lead late in the first set, as they would go on to take a 1-0 lead in the match with a 25-22 win.
In Set 2, the Bobcats jumped out to an early 5-point advantage until the Golden Eagles fought their way back to catch Merced at 9-9. From that point on, both teams struggled to put any distance between them and their opponent until Merced rattled off three straight points, with the scored tied at 13-13, to take a 16-13 lead. But he Golden Eagles used a 3-0 run of their own to catch the Bobcats yet again at 20-20, before tying the match with a 25-23 set victory.
The two teams exchanged victories by similar scores over the next two sets. La Sierra claimed a 2-1 advantage with a 25-19 win in Set 3, but were unable to close things out in the fourth set, as the Bobcats responded with their backs against the wall, winning Set 4 in similar fashion 25-19, forcing a fifth set.
Needless to say, as the match progressed the tension grew. It was the second time in as many years that the two teams met in the Cal Pac Tournament semifinals. Last season, the No. 4 seeded Bobcats upset the No. 1 seeded Golden Eagles. So La Sierra who was looking to change the storyline and avenge last year's loss was now being pushed to the brink yet again.
In a shortened fifth set where every point is precious, it was the Bobcats who took an early 3-1 lead. La Sierra responded to the challenge, catching Merced at 4-4, only to see the Bobcats score three unanswered points to take a 7-4 lead. But that's when La Sierra stepped up to the challenge yet again with a 5-0 run of their own, to claim a 9-7 lead. They would never trail again, as the two teams exchanged a pair of mini-runs before Erin Miller's eighth kill of the night sealed the victory and punched the Golden Eagles ticket to the Cal Pac Championship match.
Joining Marinos was Abby Latuhoi who tallied 12 kills, five digs, and four block assists, along with Samantha Marquez who added 10 kills and four block assists. Taylor Moran contributed seven kills and seven block assists, while Emily Morgan picked up 21 digs. Setters Smriti Sharma and Marissa Fregoso led the offensive attack with 28 assists and 27 assists, respectively.
Cal Pac "Player of the Year", Rachael Schaefer led the Bobcats with 17 kills, while Jesika Tyler added 13 kills of her own.
The Golden Eagles defeated the Bobcats in all three meeting this season, including another 5-set thriller back on October 17, on the road, that saw La Sierra fight off a match point to later come back and win the match in five sets.
La Sierra will now face the No. 1 seed, Embry-Riddle University (Ariz.) for the Cal Pac Tournament Championship (at 7pm) and a right to represent the conference in the NAIA National Tournament. The Eagles defeated the Golden Eagles in both regular season meeting between the two teams, 3-0 and 3-1. Embry-Riddle had to fight off the upset bid by Simpson University in their semifinal match. The Red Hawks were one set away from knocking off the Cal Pac regular season champions, but were unable to close it out, as the Eagles stormed back to win the final three sets and advance.
