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Chico State's independent student newspaper

The Orion

Chico State's independent student newspaper

The Orion

’Cats losing streak extended at home

Published 2011-11-01T17:58:00Z”/>

sports

Dariush Dias Azmoudeh

Two losses to nationally ranked teams over the weekend did not make the women’s volleyball team’s situation look any better.

The Wildcats have lost five of their last six games.

The team has been showing a lack of confidence ever since the loss to Humboldt State on Oct. 14, coach Cody Hein said. Since then, the ‘Cats have been trying to get back on track but aren’t having any luck.

“At some point, it’s going to be them saying, ‘Enough is enough,'” Hein said. “We’re shooting ourselves in the foot more than teams coming in and crushing us.”

The ‘Cats served up a strong first set, but it wasn’t enough as 18th ranked UC San Diego won the next three sets to take the second game of the weekend from the ‘Cats.

“In that first game, we were very clean and solid and that is what made us win,” junior setter Sable Villaescusa said. “We didn’t let what they did affect us, we stayed and played our game really strong.”

Both teams played a closely contended game tie at 21-21 until the ‘Cats pulled through with a couple of kills and errors by the Tritons to close out the set 25-22.

“We came out loose and really San Diego didn’t do anything in game one that made us deal with adversity so we were playing free and it looked good,” Hein said.

The following three sets did not look good for Chico, which struggled to keep up with the Tritons. San Diego took the sets by 25-16, 25-16 and 25-17.

The ‘Cats fought hard in the final point of the third set but could not prevent the loss. They continue to battle in the fourth but had trouble defending the Triton kills.

“They started to do some things in the beginning of game two, they started to server a little tougher,” Hein said. “San Diego started to chip away and they kept on doing their game. We just lost a little bit of confidence and got away from our game.”

The game on Saturday didn’t bring much difference. The ‘Cats were dominated by third-ranked San Bernardino in three sets, 25-17, 25-21 and 25-21.

The Coyotes continue the season undefeated, with a 17-0 conference record, 22-0 overall, while the ‘Cats record stands at 10-7 in the conference and 15-8 overall.

The ‘Cats knew San Bernardino played an exceptional game, but the remained optimistic heading to the court.

“You go into the game thinking you shouldn’t win,” junior outside hitter Makenzie Snyder said. “That’s a bad thing to think but that’s what comes with playing against San Bernardino.”

Right from the start, the Coyotes took four straight points and kept the ‘Cats from getting any closer.

Throughout the game, Chico had trouble having players to match up with the 2010 National Player of the Year, the Coyotes’ Samantha Middleborn, Hein said. The Wildcats’ short stature found difficulty stopping the 6-foot-1-inch middle blocker.

Chico trailed for most of the game until the third set and opened a 7-2 lead. However, the lead would not last after the Coyotes tied 12-12 and began their march to the final 25-21 set win.

“We went after it with our backs against the wall,” Hein said. “They were better than us but we knew it was going to take a big effort. We just didn’t have enough tonight.”

The ‘Cats will look for a win tonight when they take on Cal State Stanislaus at 7 p.m. at home before playing away games at 5 p.m. Friday against Cal State East Bay and 7 p.m. Saturday against Cal State Monterey Bay.

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<strong>Dariush Dias Asmoudeh can be reached at</strong>

<em>[email protected]</em>

 

  1. Women’s Volleyball
  2. Women’s Volleyball
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