HAYWARD – What at first appeared to be a quick and uninspired evening for the Chico State volleyball team turned into a five-set cliffhanger, as the Wildcats came roaring back from two sets down before finally bowing to Cal State East Bay 17-25, 15-25, 25-22, 25-23, 10-15 Friday at Pioneer Gym in Hayward. The ’Cats dropped their fourth five-set decision in six tries on the year, with the win giving the Pioneers a sweep of the season series.
Friday’s loss saw Chico State’s season record to 11-12, and 6-11 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). Cal State East Bay won its ninth match in the last 11 tries to improve to 17-5 overall and 12-5 in conference play.
Alex Shurtz continued her torrid month of October, posting her ninth straight match with double-digit kills for Chico State; the freshman leading all players Friday with a career-high 22 kills. Jessica Leek contributed 17 kills, while Sable Villaescusa piled up 57 assists on the night. Jordan Bambas paced the Wildcats with 13 digs. Cal State East Bay was led by Brianna Bryant’s 16 kills; Sukhjit Ahtwall had 13 kills, and Roxanne Neely posted four service aces for the victorious Pioneers.
Cal State East Bay spotted the Wildcats the first point of the opening set, but the Pioneers promptly went on an 11-6 run to grab the lead. The Pioneers steadily added to their advantage, going up 20-13 despite two kills by Jacqueline Johnson and one each from Leek and Shurtz. Chico State crept back to within four, as Shurtz delivered two kills to make the score 21-17. East Bay proceeded to reel off four straight points to post the 25-17 victory.
The ’Cats were forced to play catch-up the entire second set, as East Bay took an early 8-2 lead. Two Makenzie Fahnestock kills brought Chico State to within four, but that would be as close as the Wildcats could get. With the score 13-9, the Pioneers went on a 12-6 run to win the set going away by a final of 25-15.
Chico State was determined to avoid a sweep, and battled throughout the third set. Once again East Bay jumped out on top, but kills Leek and Shurtz and a Johnson service ace erased a 10-7 deficit to tie up the contest. The Pioneers, though, answered by scoring four of the next five points to go back in front, 14-11. Leek produced a pair of kills to bring the Wildcats to within one, only to see East Bay push its advantage back to three. Trailing 19-16, Chico State used four Shurtz kills to fuel a 5-2 run and knot up the set at 21 apiece. The Wildcats kept the pressure on when it counted – kills by Leek and Kayla Baumgardner and a solo block by Johnson gave the ’Cats a 24-22 lead; a stuff block by Leek and Johnson provided the set winner, as Chico State prevailed 25-22 to keep the match alive.
The Wildcats briefly maintained its momentum, taking an early 4-1 lead in the fourth set. East Bay scored five of the next six points to go out in front 6-5, but two Pioneer errors and a Leek kill gave Chico State an 8-7 advantage. East Bay went on a 5-1 run to take a 12-9 lead; the ’Cats responded with three straight points (kills by Johnson and Villaescusa, and a Johnson service ace) to tie things up at 12-all. The Pioneers went back on top, 17-15, but couldn’t hold the lead, as Chico State, with three Baumgardner kills and two by Shurtz leading the way, used a 9-1 run to forge a 24-18 advantage. East Bay made it interesting, closing to within one, but Johnson finally came through with the kill that gave the ’Cats the 25-23 victory and force a fifth set.
It was a see-saw battle early in the deciding set, but with the score 5-5, Cal State East Bay ripped off five straight points to take what would turn out to be an insurmountable lead. The Wildcats pulled to within 10-7, but four straight Pioneer points put the ’Cats squarely back on their heels. Chico State was able to stave off three match points, but Katie Allen finally sealed the deal for East Bay – her kill giving the Pioneers the 15-10 set victory and the match.
BOX SCORE
Chico State is back in action Saturday, traveling to La Jolla to take on the Tritons of UC San Diego. The match is slated to start at 7 p.m; fans can watch all the action live on the Internet with former Chico State great Gillian Heydorff providing color commentary on UStream.com.
CLICK HERE to be connected to the Wildcats’ Internet broadcast.
