Box Score
ESCONDIDO, Calif.-- The fire alarms went off in the third set of Cal State San Marcos women's volleyball match at Escondido High School, but there was no fire to be found. Well, not literally anyway.

The 9th-ranked Cougars were about as hot as can be without bursting into flames, seemingly cruising to a three-set victory over their conference rival La Sierra 25-13, 25-22, 25-20.

For Cal State San Marcos, it avenged an earlier loss this season on the road to the Golden Eagles, who the Cougars beat in last year's A.I.I. Championship Game. CSUSM is now 3-2 lifetime against La Sierra.

Senior libero Nichole May ignited the scoring for San Marcos early on, recording three service aces in a single run where the Cougars turned a 4-4 score into a 11-4 advantage. CSUSM added fuel to the fire by hitting .375 in the set, nearly doubling up La Sierra's score 25-13.

The Cougars and Golden Eagles battled back and forth for a while in the second set until back-to-back kills by setter Alyssa Foster gave CSUSM a 20-18 lead, which they never relinquished.

After the Cougars edged out to a 1-0 lead in the third set, play was delayed for several minutes after the fire alarm went off, forcing the athletes and entire crowd of 382 to evacuate the building. After firemen arrived on site and play resumed, the Cougars stayed red-hot and continued were they left off, making quick work of the Golden Eagles and sending the remaining fans home happy.

Taylor DeGraaf led all scorers with 10 kills, and Kelli McLin continued to break out in a big way, adding a season high nine kills with a .571 hitting percentage. Over her last two games, McLin has 17 total kills and an astounding .667 hitting percentage. She also set a new school record in blocks with eight, besting her own record set earlier this season of seven. Alyssa Foster had 33 assists, and Nichole May was outstanding as always defensively, recording 19 digs— 12 more than anyone else in the match.

With the victory, the Cougars improved to 16-8 overall, and 3-1 at home. La Sierra falls to 14-8. The Cougars are in the midst of a four game home stretch, concluding next week as they host Chapman on Tuesday and San Diego Christian on Thursday. Both matches begin at 7:00 pm at Escondido High School.