Box Score Box Score
If there was ever a good time to have a short match, tonight was that night. Having already played a grueling 4-set match earlier in the day against Arizona Christian, and with the team needing to win both a semifinal and a final match tomorrow to secure a bid to NAIA Nationals, the CSUSM volleyball team aimed to knock off the #3 seeded Jamestown Jimmies with as little drama as possible. Mission Accomplished.
In the first set, the Cougars jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead before giving it back and falling behind 8-11. CSUSM would respond though with an 8-0 run after that, with kills by 5 different Cougars that put them up 16-11. They would go on to take the set 25-18.
The second set was also relatively smooth, winning 25-17 after the Cougars controlled the entire set after it was knotted at 2 early on.
The third set against Jamestown was actually similar to the third set the Cougars played against Arizona Christian earlier in the day, in that the Cougars were up two sets and that the opponent hung tough to make it tightly contested. With neither team able to win by two, the squads battled it out in the longest set the Cougars have played all season, eventually winning 33-31 on a Taylor Degraaf kill to secure the victory.
Degraaf, a recent A.I.I. First Team Selection, was excellent on the night, recording 18 kills for a ridiculous .600 attacking percentage, while the Cougars held 2011 A.I.I. Conference Player of the Year Sarah Becker of Jameston to only 6 kills and a .133 hitting percentage for the evening. Fellow A.I.I. First Team Member
Alyssa Foster had a game high 39 assists for the Cougars, and
Nichole May, an A.I.I. Honorable Mention, recorded 11 digs. Impressively, the Cougars didn't allow a single service ace.
The #2 seeded Cougars are now 27-7 on the season, and will play #4 seed Mayville State (ND) in their semifinal tomorrow afternoon. Jamestown (23-13) will also advance to the semifinal and play top-seeded La Sierra (CA). The winner of each match will play in the final Saturday night.
