Riverside, Calif. – The women's volleyball team fell to 1-3 on the young season, after falling to #16 Cornerstone University in four sets. In the final match of the Golden Eagles Invitational, La Sierra was unable to replicate their comeback from the day before, as they were defeated in four sets 12-25, 25-18, 25-23, 21-25. The team went 1-2 through three matches over the last two days, as the young squad continues to find their way.
The story for much of the match proved to be Cornerstone's frontline defense who tallied a total of 25 block assists in the match. For the second match in as many days, the Golden Eagles offense was stymied by their opponents play at the net.
For the second day in a row, the La Sierra found themselves in a 2-0 deficit. Yesterday, the team was fortunate to fight their way back and pick up their first win of the season over St. Katherine, but they weren't as fortunate on this day against the 16th ranked team in the nation who improved to 6-1 on the season. But it didn't come without a fight from the Golden Eagles who used a late mini-run in Set 3 to push the match to a fourth set, before Cornerstone used their own late run in Set 4 to secure the victory.
La Sierra had no answer for Kendra Zwart who set the tone early and led her team with 14 kills.
Michele Mendizabal had a team-high 16 kills (.324) in the loss. Kiana Krumm finished with 10 kills, while Shawnee Longmeyer-Poland added seven kills against only one error, for an attack percentage of .462.
Sharing the setting responsibilities, it was Marissa Fregoso who contributed 21 assists and Hannah Schaffer who added another 16 assists.
Defensively for the Golden Eagles it was Emily Morgan who led the team with 15 digs, with Fregoso and Krumm pitching in with 12 digs and 10 digs, respectively.
Freshmen Veronica Ramirez led the team with six block assists, while Mendizabal added four block assists of her own.
The team will be back on the road for their next three matches starting with Tuesday's match, at The Master's, at 7pm.
