Cabrillo stretched by College of San Mateo to five sets but manages to extend Coast streak to 103

October 11, 2018

SAN MATEO - California Community College volleyball’s longest win streaks were seriously threatened Wednesday night. The College of San Mateo women endangered the 11-year Coast Conference run of visiting Cabrillo College (124-1 over that period), taking the first two sets; then leading midway through the third and fifth sets.

Cabrillo (15-2, 5-0 Coast North), however, extended it 10-year Coast skein to 103 matches with a comeback 24-26, 18-25, 25-17, 25-10, 15-12 victory. San Mateo had won its “lucky” 13th consecutive set and was threatening to extend its program record win streak to nine matches before the 2-time recent state champion Seahawks rallied late.

CSM (15-5, 2-1) won the first two sets and led, 13-10 and 14-12, in the third period before Cabrillo finally got engaged. A 5-point Seahawks run turned the corner. San Mateo stayed within striking distance at 17-20 before Cabrillo closed it with another 5-point skein to gain new life.

CSM led, 8-4, at the mid-point of the fifth set before Cabrillo grabbed the advantage with 3 and 4-point runs. San Mateo rallied to within 12-13 before the Seahawks scored the final two points to keep the streak intact.

Hannah Gamez had 14 kills and Honoria Aguilar had 19 digs for CSM. Lille Tuivailala had ten kills and three blocks. Grace Willming had a trio of key ace serves. “We saw a lot of heart, a lot of finesse tonight,” said CSM coach Katie Goldhahn. “Cabrillo finally adjusted better than us.”

STREAKS: Cabrillo’s last (and only) league loss over the past dozen seasons came in the last decade, early in 2009 -- to Gavilan. Cabrillo won the rematch and both teams finished league play at 9-1 to share the crown. Cabrillo ended that season with eight league wins.

Cabrillo won California Community College Athletic Association state championships in both 2013 and 2015.

(Fred Baer, College of San Mateo)