Lady Yotes Fall 3-1 to California Baptist in NAIA Tournament
SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- The College of Idaho volleyball team fell out of contention for a national title this afternoon, dropping a tough four-set decision to No. 7 ranked Cal Baptist, 25-21, 25-21, 18-25, 25-18 at the NAIA Volleyball National Tournament here.
The loss drops the Coyotes (24-9) to 0-2 in Pool F, tied with Indiana Tech - while both Cal Baptist and Georgetown finished the day at 2-0, securing a spot in Friday's bracket play-in matches.
In Set 1, the Yotes jumped out to a 8-5 lead, as Kaylyn Hayashikawa recorded three-straight service aces. The two teams would see four ties, before the Lancers (26-8) took the lead for good at 16-15 on a Rene Simon kill. The Coyotes would pull within 19-18 on a Kristin Henning solo block, but could not get closer, as CBU scored five of the next six points to put it away.
Set 2 saw the Lancers take a 17-11 lead on a Fei Shi kill, but the Yotes battled back, using a Marcella Hernandez spike to close the gap to 18-17. However a Shi kill and ace pushed the lead to 20-17, part of a four-point push to give CBU the two-set advantage.
Set 3 was all C of I, using a 6-0 run early in the frame, to build a 11-4 lead, a margin that would grow to 21-10 on a Lancer hitting error.
Unfortunately, the momentum was stopped in Set 4, as CBU took a 12-11 lead and used a 7-1 run, aided by four C of I hitting errors, to take the match.
Noelle Dyk led CBU with 16 kills, with Shi adding 13 kills and 18 digs, and Colleen Sweeney recording 13 kills and three blocks. The Lancers recorded 11 aces in the match - the most allowed by The C of I this season.
The Yotes were paced by 12 kills and three blocks by Henning, who did not have a hitting error. Megan Spinks had eight kills, with Naomi Reimer adding eight kills, 21 assists and 11 digs. Madie Machurek had a double-double with 18 assists and 13 digs, with Whitney Owen leading the way with 22 digs.
The Lady Yotes close out their season tomorrow at 11 a.m. (CST) with a match-up against No. 18 Indiana Tech.