RIVERSIDE - Women's Volleyball defeated UC Merced in a five set thriller (15-25, 25-19, 25-19, 17-25, 15-12). The Golden Eagles previously played the Bobcats earlier this season where they again went to five sets, but ultimately fell.
Kierston-Joy Kuresa recorded 14 kills as the Golden Eagles top hitter of the game. Lanah Bergen and Torri Lambert also contributed 10 and 8 kills respectively. Lindsay Delgadillo and Sophia Cardenas led with 18 and 12 assists, and Ava Himstreet added 17 digs to her career record.
The Bobcats 29 game play errors and 14 service errors favored in the Golden Eagle win.
In the second and fifth sets women's volleyball had a combined three errors proving to be a season low for the team. Both teams equaled in 2 solo blocks and 12 block assists.
The Golden Eagles picked up game play in the second set where they started off with a four point lead. After capitalizing on the Bobcats errors, the Golden Eagles grew their lead to 8 points in the middle of the set. Big kills from Talley Blackwell and Lambert secured La Sierra's final points to take set two.
The Golden Eagles momentum kept going into their third set win. After tying the game back to 4-4, the Bobcats went on a short run to increase their lead by 5. Kills from Bergen and good serves from Himstreet led the Golden Eagles on a run of their own to tie the game 12-12. With the excitement in the air, both teams battled back and forth trading the lead. Sophia Avery subbed into the game to serve to secure the Golden Eagles next four points to close in on the win. Kills from Julissa Rodriguez and Kuresa, and an attack error on the Bobcats ended set three.
However, the Bobcats were not out yet and continued their fight for victory. UCM led the whole fourth set after the Golden Eagles had tied the game three separate times early on. Ending on a service ace, we headed into the fifth.
With Merced leading off the fifth set with first service, the Golden Eagles struck big on a kill from Bergen. Merced then tied the game and took the lead with a 3-2 score. The Bobcats slowly started to pull away with a deficit to La Sierra of 7-4. Rodriguez again came in clutch with a big kill to change the run. With Kuresa serving, an attack error on the Bobcats, a service ace, and a kill from Abigail Hines put the Golden Eagles up 8-7. With one more score tie 8-8, the Golden Eagles never lost the lead. Hines, Bergen, and Lambert ended the kills from the Golden Eagles and Delgadillo added a service ace.
Women's Volleyball walked away with a huge win from the team leading the Cal Pac.
Women's Volleyball looks to continue their hot streak Friday, October 18 at 12 pm against Simpson University. La Sierra will dedicate the day's match to Breast Cancer Awareness.
