Riverside, Calif. - The women's volleyball team suffered their first loss in conference play, on Saturday night, and was forced to settle for a split in this weekend's Cal Pac action. La Sierra defeated Benedictine University, 3-1 (23-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-17), before losing to Embry-Riddle (AZ), 3-2 (25-17, 18-25, 25-23, 25-17, 16-18). The split moves the Golden Eagles record to 4-1 in conference play and 9-6 overall.
Michele Mendizabal had the hot hand this weekend. She collected 14 kills in the win over Benedictine. Mendizabal backed that effort up with 23 kills, 10 digs, four service aces and an attack percentage of .347 in the loss to Embry-Riddle.
Veronica Ramirez had an impressive performance against the Red Hawks, with 10 kills against two attack errors and an attack percentage of .320. Kiana Krumm and Shawnee Longmeyer-Poland each contributed nine kills in the win. Krumm also added 18 kills, 14 digs, and three service aces in the loss to Embry-Riddle.
As usual, Emily Morgan played steady defense with 28 digs and 22 digs in the two matches. Marissa Fregoso is now teamed up with Cairon Fido, as the two split the setting responsibilities. Combined in the two matches, Fregoso compiled a total of 53 assists, while Fido added 39 to the tally.
In Friday's match, the Golden Eagles were on the verge of taking a 1-0 lead before the Red Hawks mounted a 13-5 run that would propel them to victory and the match lead.
Despite 17 service errors and 20 attack errors, the Golden Eagle were able to bound back and win the next three sets.
In Saturday night's loss, the team started the match in similar fashion. A late run by Embry-Riddle allowed them to steal the first set. They would take a commanding lead with a win in the second set, before the Golden Eagles fought their way back to win the next two sets and send the match to a fifth set.
The back-and-forth set started with La Sierra taking a 4-1 lead, but it was Embry-Riddle who reached the 8-point mark first as the two teams switched sides. After a few more lead changes, the Golden Eagles found themselves down by a score of 14-10. The Golden Eagles rattled off four straight points to tie the score at 14-14, and they would survive five match points, before Lyndsey Weiler picked up the clinching kill to keep her team undefeated in conference play with a record of 6-0 (16-3 overall).
The team will now turn their attention to next weekend when they travel to the University of Antelope Valley (2-3, 12-10), for a Friday afternoon match-up, followed by a Saturday night match at UC Merced (3-2, 3-11).
