Published 2006-09-30T00:00:00Z”/>

Zuri Berry

Sept. 29, 2006

Volleyball coach Cody Hein has been preaching confidence and chemistry among his players all year.

It sounds Phil Jackson-ish, said Hein, but the players have jumped on this bandwagon all the way to a school-record 10 consecutive wins after the team’s ninth shutout this season, with Friday’s win over Cal State Monterey Bay.

The visiting Otters fought a tough match, starting the third game on a 9-2 run, before being eclipsed by the Wildcats on the way to their record-setting win.

The Wildcats won the match 30-26, 30-25 and 30-28.

Chico State’s Jamie Houle helped lead the Wildcats to Friday’s victory, supplying 14 kills, while Lindsay Macias added 12. Setter Erica Brick had seven kills and 45 assists in the match. Houle also led the charge with three final kills to finish off the Otters.

“I think if we keep working hard and having fun, I don’t think we can be stopped,” Houle said of the closeness of the win.

“When that happens we’re going to fight back to win,” Houle said. “You never know with us.”

The ‘Cats are now 9-1 (14-1 overall), while dropping the Otters to 2-7 (5-10). Chico State’s only loss came against Cal State San Bernardino, which is ranked No. 1 in the Pacific Region. Chico State is ranked No. 2.

Hein said now he can start talking about their rematch.

“We still got (Cal Poly Pomona) next week but in all the video we watched the past week it’s been Cal State Monterey Bay vs. (Cal State San) Bernardino, (Cal State) Stanislaus vs. (Cal State) San Bernardino in the region,” Hein said.

Chico State will travel to play Cal Poly Pomona on Friday Oct. 6 before taking on Cal State San Bernardino on Saturday Oct. 7 for the rematch of the team’s lone season defeat.

Zuri Berry can be reached at <a href= “mailto:[email protected]”>[email protected]</a>