The Chico State women’s volleyball team suffered its first conference loss of the season Friday against Cal State San Bernardino, three to one (18-25, 25-20, 19-25, 23-25).

The leaders for the ‘Cats were juniors Ellie Larronde and Lindsay Quigley, recording 15 and 13 kills respectively. Also, freshman Torey Thompson had a game high 44 assists.

In the first game, the Wildcats played from behind as the Coyotes won 25-18. In the second game, the ‘Cats came back aggressively 25-20 and evened the match at one game apiece. In a heated third set, both teams battled back and forth, but the Coyotes prevailed 25-19. In the fourth set, with the Wildcats back against the wall, Chico State played tough, but lost 25-23 in a heart breaking set.

“We played very well, but we could work on holding on to the lead in sets and we’ll apply that in tomorrows game,” said freshmen middle hitter Ashton Kershner.

The ‘Cats are now 6-5 on the season and 3-1 in conference play. The next game will be Saturday in Acker Gym at 7 p.m. against UC San Diego.

Ben Marquez can be reached at [email protected]