CARSON -- The Cal State Dominguez Hills women's volleyball team looked to complete the regular season sweep over UC Merced after taking a 3-1 win in September, but visiting UC Merced turned the tables this afternoon in the Torodome after a 26-24, 25-23, 17-25, 25-19 decision.
The loss, CSUDH's sixth-straight, drops the Toros to 2-16 overall and 1-8 in California Collegiate Athletic Association action.
Natalia Walden-Schulz (pictured) led the Cardinal and Gold with 12 kills, while
Lainey Johnson chipped in eight and
Jordan Kennedy six.
The visitors jumped to a 10-4 lead in the opening set before the Toros closed their deficit to just 15-12 after putaway from Walden-Schulz.
CSUDHÂ caught the Bobcats five times down the stretch before UCM scored the final two points for a one-set lead.
Set two also was tight, with neither team taking more than a 3-point lead. The Toros looked to knot the set again after clawing back to 24-23 on a UCM attack error, but the Bobcats took advantage of their second set point to take a two sets to none lead.
That setback motivated the hosts as they stormed to a 9-5 lead after a Kennedy kill and UCM error, pushing their lead to 16-9 behind three-straight points off of
Giovannina De Sisto's serve.
Merced got to within five points at 22-17, but kills by
Kylie Leopard, Johnson and Walden-Schulz gave the Toros their first set since that match-up in September, as well as momentum.
The Toros used that edge to take a 6-4 lead early, only to have Merced score four straight points.
With CSUDH down 12-10, UCM rolled off five-straight points and seven of the next eight to take a commanding 19-11 lead. Despite a late Toro run that saw them claw to 21-17 behind
Keilyn Flores' strong serve, the Bobcats scored four of the final six points to take the match and even the season series.
Johnson led both teams with 17 digs in the loss, with the Toros hitting at a .224 clip, better than UCM's .203 effort.
The Toros travel to Cal State Monterey Bay on Friday, October 23, looking to break its six-match skid.
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