FULLERTON, Calif. –
Jackie van Vliet recorded a career-high 23 kills, including scoring the final three points for the College of Idaho, as the Lady Yotes gave head coach
Liz Mendiola her 400th career win, rallying to defeat Rocky Mountain in five sets to close out Day 1 of the HIU/VU Summer Slam.
Earlier in the day, C of I opened the season with a tough four-set loss to Embry-Riddle.
The Yotes battled back from a two sets to none deficit in the late match to stun RMC 17-25, 23-25, 25-20, 26-24, 15-13.
Mendiola, who holds the mark for most wins by a women's coach in any sport in C of I history, now has a 400-151 all-time record and trails only former men's basketball coach
Marty Holly, former baseball coach Tim Mooney and current baseball coach
Shawn Humberger for career victories.
After dropping the first two sets, C of I (1-1) trailed 19-14 in Set 3, but closed the period on an 11-2 run to stave off elimination. In Set 4, the Yotes built a 21-14 lead, only to see the Bears (1-1) score 10 of the next 13 points to pull even at 24-24 – before a service error and a van Vliet kill forced the winner-take-all set.
In the decisive frame, the teams played to eight ties – the last at 12-12 – before van Vliet smashed back to back kills, and following a side out, closed the match out with a spike.
Ashley Pagan recorded her second career 20-20 match, recording 20 kills and 27 digs, while
Marija Djonovic added a career-high 60 assists in the win for the Yotes.
In today's opener, Pagan had 15 kills and
Taylor Alexander recorded 14 kills and 18 digs in a 20-25, 25-19, 25-23, 27-25 loss to ERAU (2-0).
C of I closes out tournament play tomorrow with matches vs. Hope International and No. 6 ranked Westmont.
