There’s been a quiet confidence emanating from the Cal Poly Pomona women’s soccer team this season.
Last year’s NCAA Division II national champions, the Broncos’ on-field results continue to speak volumes as the group is headed to the Final Four for the second consecutive season after dispatching the nation’s top-ranked team in the national quarterfinals.
“It’s all down to the collective taking responsibility for what we have to do on the day,” Cal Poly Pomona coach Jay Mason said. “The girls really enjoy the challenge and want to play against the best players to measure themselves.”
With a commanding 2-0 victory over No. 1 Dallas Baptist on Saturday, Dec. 6, Cal Poly Pomona (18-2-3 overall) advanced to play Florida Tech in Colorado Springs, Colo. on Thursday.
“We’ve been in these situations before so we know what the pressure feels like, and it’s all down to preparation,” senior All-American Vanessa Cruz said.
Mason, the winningest coach in the program’s history, picked up his 100th career victory in the process.
“It’s about being confident enough to take a chance,” Mason said. “Nothing that we ever do is guaranteed, but we’re really excited about the opportunity that this group has created for itself.”
Absorbing pressure from Dallas Baptist early before producing some scoring opportunities of its own, Cal Poly Pomona took the lead in the 34th minute when Kiarra D’Arcangelo’s shot hit the left post before Marisa Salazar followed up with her seventh goal of the season.
The Broncos organized defensively an did not allow a shot on target in front of first-year goalkeeper Jenna Tetrault (Redlands East Valley High) for the entire match.
“It’s our foundation and part of our MO,” Mason said. “We want to make it hard for teams, and we knew that if we gave DBU space to do what they like to do then we’d probably be on the wrong end of this result.”
Dallas Baptist pushed numbers forward in the second half but Cal Poly Pomona refused to budge and added to its lead before Cruz buried a penalty kick in the 56th minute.
The Broncos smothered Dallas Baptist’s attempts to get back into the match, and held the Patriots (20-2) scoreless for only the second time this season.
“I’ve been here on the other end of a lot of results against DBU so we knew about the task,” Mason said.
It was the first time the Broncos have won a match in the state of Texas.
RAY & LA VERNE COME UP SHORT
In the program’s first championship appearance since 2008, senior All-American Mya Ray left it all on the court for the La Verne volleyball team.
Ray had 16 kills to set a program record but it wasn’t enough as La Verne lost to Wisconsin-Oshkosh 25-17, 25-22, 21-15 on Saturday, Dec. 6, in the NCAA Division III title match in Bloomington, Ill.
Ray finished the season with 2,002 kills, shattering the previous La Verne becoming the first Leopard ever to reach the 2,000-kill milestone. Ray, the program’s single-season kills record holder with 629 set this year, ends her career as one of the most dominant attackers in D3 history.
COYOTES’ RUN ENDS
After a disappointing 2024 campaign, the Cal State San Bernardino volleyball team jumped back into the upper echelon of Division II this season.
Led by juniors Kacie Pedersen (Riverside King High) and M’Kera Drake (Summit High), the Coyotes (22-5 overall) placed second in the CCAA during the regular season and returned to the NCAA D2 West Regional before losing a five-set thriller, 20-25, 25-15, 25-15, 19-25, 21-19, in the quarterfinals at Point Loma on Thursday, Dec. 4.
Pedersen, the CCAA Tournament’s top player and an AVCA all-West Region first team selection, had a team-high 19 kills. She was the Coyotes’ only all-CCAA first team selection this season.
EAGLES TOP TIGERS AT RCC
The Mt. San Jacinto College men’s basketball team got on a run to beat the hosts at the Riverside City College Hypland Classic.
Sophomore guard Adrian Mosely had 19 points and 11 rebounds as MSJC came from behind to beat RCC 71-65 at Wheelock Gymnasium on Thursday, Dec. 4. The Eagles (7-3 overall) host Chaffey on Saturday at 3 p.m.
Sophomores Kollen Murphy (Rancho Christian) and P.J. Pounds each had 20 points in the loss for the Tigers (6-5), who rebounded to beat No. 12 Ventura 78-72 on Saturday, Dec. 6.
ODDS & ENDS
UC Riverside has partnered with Buffalo Wild Wings locations in Moreno Valley and San Bernardino to host watch parties for Highlander men’s basketball away games beginning this Saturday vs. BYU. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. … California Baptist men’s soccer sophomore forward Blake D’Agostino is one of 45 players invited to the Major League Soccer college showcase, scheduled for Dec. 10-13 in Mesa, Ariz. … . Redlands women’s basketball senior forward Colbi Zorich become the 12th player in program history to surpass 1,000 career points in a 62-43 win over UC Santa Cruz on Saturday, Dec. 6. … The 200 medley relay lineup for the Pomona-Pitzer men’s swim team of Diego Hodge, Jonathan Cong, Nathan Xu and Adrian Clement set a record at Haldeman Pool in Claremont with a time of 1 minute, 29.18 seconds to qualify for the NCAA Division III Finals and help the Sagehens defeat Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 229-124 on Saturday, Dec. 6.
