The Golden Eagles women's volleyball team picked up two straight set victories this weekend to secure the #2 seed in the Cal Pac Tournament. La Sierra defeated Pacific Union College 3-0 (30-28, 25-8, 25-23) on Friday afternoon, followed by a 3-0 win (31-29, 25-22, 25-20) over Simpson University. The two wins pushed the Golden Eagles record to 7-3 in Cal Pac play (15-9 overall).
In Friday's win over the Pioneers, Caitlin Marinos tallied 10 kills, nine digs, and three aces. Samantha Marquez added seven kills, while Taylor Moran controlled the play at the net, finishing with seven block assists, one solo block and five kills. Libero Emily Morgan led the defense with 10 digs.
La Sierra dominated the match offensively by outhitting the Pioneers 40-26 in total kills.
The team followed up their win against PUC with another straight set victory at Simpson on Saturday night. While the two teams played a tight match, statistically speaking, it was La Sierra who came away with the victory. For the second straight match, Marinos led the way with 13 kills and 14 digs. Marquez had a strong performance with 11 kills against only one hitting error on 23 total attempts (.435). Morgan and Maya Hanna each contributed 13 digs and 12 digs respectively.
Setters Marissa Fregoso (20) and Smirti Sharma (17.5) led the offense to their sixth conference win in their last seven Cal Pac matches.
The team will now look to carry that momentum into the Cal Pac Championship Tournament this coming weekend. As the #2 seed, La Sierra will play the University of Californian – Merced (14-9, 6-4) who finished as the #3 seed. The Golden Eagles defeated UC Merced in both meetings this season. The two teams will meet in the second semifinal match, to be played on Thursday evening (November 14), at approximately 8pm. The match will follow the first semifinal match of the day that will feature the #1 seeded Embry-Riddle Eagles and the #4 seed, Simpson University, at 530pm. The winner of each semifinal match will play for the Cal Pac Championship and a berth in the NAIA National Tournament, on Saturday night. Please stay tuned for complete Cal Pac Tournament information.
