LOS ANGELES – Friday night at the Eagles Nest, the Chico State volleyball team did a great job of displaying the type energy and toughness it will need to compete in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) this season. But despite a spirited performance, it wasn’t enough for the Wildcats to take down No. 21 Cal State L.A., as the Golden Eagles bested the ’Cats in four sets (21-25, 25-17, 17-25, 24-26) in the conference-opening match for both schools.
The loss dropped Chico State to 4-2 on the season, while Cal State L.A. improved to 4-1 for the year. The Wildcats’ offense was evenly distributed, with Jessica Leek leading the way, posting a .500 hitting percentage en route to 12 kills. Makenzie Fahnestock added nine kills, Alex Shurtz contributed eight non-returnables and Jacqueline Johnson chipped in seven kills on the night. Sable Villaescusa collected 29 assists for the ’Cats, with Jessica Simms piling up 17 digs. Natalia Gonzalez of the Golden Eagles led all players with 13 kills.
The match’s opening set was played evenly early on, until Cal State L.A. used an 8-4 run to snap a 9-9 tie and take a 17-13 lead. Chico State fought back to pull to within 18-17, but the Golden Eagles put the set away by scoring seven of the next 11 points to grab the 25-21 victory.
The Wildcats came back aggressively in the second set, jumping out to leads of 8-6 and 10-7, but the talented Golden Eagles roared back to knot things up at 12-apiece. Chico State didn’t panic, and proceeded to rip off a 7-1 run to go up 19-13. Cal State L.A. could get no closer than four points the rest of the way, and the ’Cats, led by Leek’s four kills in the set, claimed a 25-17 victory to tie the match at one win each.
Cal State L.A. came back from intermission and scored the first five points of the third set, but the gritty Wildcats went on a 6-1 run to tie the score. The Golden Eagles responded with a 9-3 run to take a big 15-9 lead, and Chico State could not recover, bowing by a final count of 25-17.
Things started encouragingly for the ’Cats in the fourth set, as Chico State raced out to a 9-4 lead. The Wildcats were still ahead 11-8 when Cal State L.A. scored seven unanswered points to go up 15-11. The Wildcats fought back, and powered by a pair of Fahnestock kills, a Kayla Baumgardner kill and service ace, and solo kills by Johnson and Shurtz, Chico State pulled even at 23-all. The Golden Eagles, though, squashed any thought of a fifth and deciding set by scoring three of the final four points to win the set 26-24 and hand the Wildcats its second loss in their last three matches.
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Chico State travels to Carson Saturday for the next stop on its southern California road trip, as the Wildcats take on Cal State Dominguez Hills 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.
CLICK HERE to be connected to the Wildcats’ Internet broadcast.
