SAN BERNARDINO—Butterflies were definitely buzzing around the Chico State volleyball team Thursday at the beginning of its California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championship Tournament opening round match against Cal State Dominguez Hills. But once they vanquished their postseason jitters and settled in, the Wildcats took care of business as they have all season, needing just three sets to eliminate the Toros 25-23, 25-19, 25-20 at Coussoulis Arena and set up a semifinal round showdown with Stanislaus State Friday at 5 p.m.
 
Stanislaus State, the No. 3 seed in the CCAA North Division, earned the right to face the North's No. 1 seed Wildcats by upsetting the South Division's No. 2 seed UC San Diego Thursday in four sets to open the conference tournament. The winner of Friday's Chico State-Stanislaus State match will advance to Saturday's CCAA Championship Tournament final.
 

Fans can follow the action of Friday's Wildcats-Warriors semifinal match on the Internet with Live Stats via the Wildcat Athletics website. Live streaming is also available online.
 
Chico State extended its current winning streak to five to improve to 22-6 on the season. Thursday's victory also marked the program's first postseason win since November 20, 2008.
 
Kim Wright collected 13 kills on the afternoon and contributed five blocks to lead the Wildcat attack. Olivia Mediano collected 10 kills, while Camryn Rocha, Ashton Kershner and Torey Thompson combined for another 16 winners. Thompson dished out 30 assists, with Shannon Cotton racking up 16 digs and a pair of service aces.
 
The opening set was a tightly-played affair. Kills by Wright, Rocha, Mediano and Torey Thompson, and a pair of combo blocks anchored by Kershner helped Chico State build an early 8-6 lead, but Dominguez Hills answered with three straight points to go up 9-8. The 'Cats did likewise, jumping back in front 11-9 on kills from Mediano and Wright and an ace by Cotton. With the score tied at 11-all, the Wildcats used a 9-4 run—highlighted by multiple kills by Wright and Mediano and an ace by Rocha—to take a 20-15 lead. The Toros pulled to within 23-22, but kills by Wright and Kershner provided the deciding points to give Chico State the hard-fought 25-23 victory.
 
Wright crushed two kills and delivered an ace, Torey Thompson posted a pair of winners, and coupled with three Dominguez Hills miscues, the Wildcats jumped out to a 9-5 lead in the second set, only to see the Toros go on a 6-1 run to go up 11-10. With the score knotted up at 12-apiece, consecutive kills by Mediano and Torey Thompson put Chico State back on top, and this time the Wildcats would not relinquish the lead. The 'Cats stretched its advantage to 23-17, then finished things off with a Mediano kill and a Wright/Anna Baytosh combo block to win 25-19.
 
The Toros grabbed an early 7-4 lead early in the third set, but the Wildcats answered with authority—kills by Mediano, Kershner and Wright, a Cotton ace and a pair of Wright/ Baytosh blocks fueled a 7-1 run to put Chico State in front 11-8. The Wildcats continued to pour it on—kills by Mediano, Wright and Torey Thompson, a Tristen Thompson ace and a Torey Thompson block made the score 19-11, and two late Baytosh kills sealed the deal as Chico State took the set 25-20 to complete the match sweep.
 
Friday will be the third meeting of the season between Chico State and Stanislaus State. The Wildcats swept the Warriors October 5 in Turlock, then posted a four-set win October 22 at Acker Gym. The 'Cats hold a 54-14 lead in the all-time series between the two teams.