CALDWELL, Idaho – Emily Ottinger had seven of her career-high 25 kills in the decisive fifth set, as the College of Idaho outlasted Cal State San Marcos in the NAIA Volleyball National Championship Opening Round matchup inside the J.A. Albertson Activities Center.
With their 18-25, 25-23, 25-14, 21-25, 15-11 victory, the No. 24 ranked Lady Yotes (20-11) advance to the final site of the NAIA Volleyball National Championship, presented by J & L Industries, Dec. 2-6 in Sioux City, Iowa.
Ottinger, the lone senior on the C of I squad, took over in the final frame, rattling off four-straight kills to erase a Cougars (27-11) 10-8 lead. After an Alyssa Hubbard kill gave CSUSM a side out, Ottinger followed with a kill and combined with Janessa Koelliker on a combo-block to earn match point. After a lengthy rally, Bailee Kendall ripped a cross-court kill to send the Yotes to the Siouxland for the sixth time.
The Cougars jumped out to an early match lead, using a 10-4 run, keyed by a pair of Hubbard kills, to cruise to the set win. Set 2 featured 16 ties before CSUSM took a 23-21 on a Hubbard spike. C of I countered, scoring the final four points of the period, with a Koelliker-Kendall block evening the match at a set apiece.
C of I used five team blocks in Set 3 – including three consecutive tandem-blocks to build a 20-11 lead – grabbing control of the match. However, the No. 22 ranked Cougars answered in Set 4, breaking a 19-19 tie with a three-point surge, ending with a Cheyenne Richards kill and block, to force the final run to 15.
Kylie Porter had 18 kills and five blocks for the Yotes, who won their third-straight five set match in the postseason, extending their overall win streak to seven. Kendall added 13 kills and six blocks; Koelliker had five kills and a season-high eight blocks; Sierra Porter had 64 assists and nine digs; with Kilee Lopez leading three back row players in double-figures with 21 digs.
Hubbard led CSUSM with 19 kills, with Richards adding 13 kills and four blocks. Alyssa Foster had 56 assists and nine digs, , with Samantha Flores logging 17 digs and a match-high three aces.
