ROHNERT PARK – The Chico State volleyball team have precious little time to crystallize its chemistry before the start of California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) play. With just five non-conference matches on the schedule, the Wildcats went into this weekend’s Seawolf Spike Tournament knowing they needed to produce right away. The ’Cats did just that Friday, winning their first two tilts of the 2010 season, downing Dominican in four sets (25-20, 23-25, 25-14, 25-19) at Sonoma State’s Wolves’ Den, then following up with a four-set afternoon victory (23-25, 25-12, 25-21, 25-21) over BYU-Hawaii at the campus’s Recreation Center.
Freshman Alex Shurtz led the ’Cats attack in the morning win against Dominican, delivering 14 kills, while sophomore Jessica Leek contributed 11 kills. Sophomore setter Sable Villaescusa collected 35 assists, and freshman Makenzie Fahnestock managed to do a little bit of everything, piling up eight kills and team highs with 14 digs and four service aces.
The Wildcats and Penguins split the first two sets, but Chico State took control of the match midway through the third set. The ’Cats snapped an 11-11 tie by going on an impressive 12-1 run, breaking the set open and eventually posting a 25-14 victory. The Wildcats fell behind early in the fourth set, but erased a 7-0 deficit to take a 10-9 lead; Chico State would score 15 of the final 25 points to win the match finale 25-19 and keep their record perfect against Dominican (the Wildcats are 5-0 all-time versus the Penguins).
BOX SCORE vs. Dominican
Leek led a trio of Wildcats with double digits in the kill column against BYU-Hawaii, blasting 21 non-returnables while posting an outstanding .459 hitting percentage. Fahnestock added 15 kills, 15 digs and four service aces, and Shurtz picked up another dozen kills in her first day of competition as a Wildcat. Villaescusa set her teammates to the tune of 42 assists against the Seasiders, while Jessica Simms led Chico State in the afternoon match with 22 digs.
But it was Simms’ serving in the second set that swung the momentum against BYU-Hawaii. After dropping the opener to the Seasiders 25-23, Simms held serve for eight straight Wildcat points in the second set, delivering a pair of aces to trigger a 9-2 Wildcat run and put Chico State up 19-5; the ‘Cats eventually cruised to a 25-12 victory. Chico State scored nine of the last 12 points in the pivotal third set to win 25-21, then in the fourth set Simms once again punished BYU-Hawaii from the service line, posting four straight aces to put the Wildcats ahead to stay, as they went on to take the set and the match by a final of 25-21 and improve to 2-0 on the season. Interestingly, it was the first-ever volleyball win for Chico State over BYU Hawaii; the Seasiders won the only other meeting between the two schools way back in 1989.
BOX SCORE vs. BYU-Hawaii
The Wildcats will wrap up the Seawolf Spike Tournament Saturday by taking on Grand Canyon at 9 a.m., followed by what should be their biggest pre-conference test of the young season when the ’Cats tangle with the Falcons of Seattle Pacific at 1:30 p.m. You can follow both Saturday matches via Live Stats on the Wildcat Athletics website.
