LOS ANGELES—Everyone associated with the Chico State volleyball team knows the talent is there. But a third of the way into the 2022 season, the challenge of executing consistently on the court remains a work in progress. The Wildcats displayed lots of fight and plenty of grit in their Saturday afternoon showdown against Cal State LA, but it wasn't quite enough to prevent the Golden Eagles from winning the match in three sets (25-16, 25-16, 25-15) at the Eagles' Nest in Los Angeles.
Saturday's loss—Chico State's fifth in a row—dropped the Wildcats to 2-7 on the season and 0-2 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). Cal State LA won its fifth consecutive match to improve to 7-3 overall and 2-0 in CCAA play.
Zoe DiNardo provided the bulk of the 'Cats' offense on the afternoon, slamming 11 kills while adding three blocks. Bree Rodriguez tallied three kills, four blocks, and a service ace, with Brooke Ono contributing 19 assists, eight digs, and two aces. Lexi Carpenter led the Wildcats with nine digs.
The Wildcats opened the afternoon's scoring courtesy of a Rodriguez/DiNardo combo block, but the rest of the first set belonged to Cal State LA. The Golden Eagles scored nine of the next 12 points to surge into the lead, and after a Grace Shepherd kill cut the deficit to 9-5, Cal State LA went on a 7-2 run to open up its advantage to 16-7. Chico State made some noise late in the set, DiNardo delivered three kills, Rodriguez floored a winner and combined with Shepherd on a point-producing block, but the 'Cats were unable to trim the Golden Eagles' lead, and Cal State LA rolled to the 25-16 win.
Chico State spread the offense around to begin the second set, and on the strength of kills by DiNardo, Rodriguez, Shepherd, Lauryn Osendorf and Nariah Prescott, grabbed an 8-7 lead. Cal State LA jumped out in front 13-9, but the 'Cats clawed back, using two Ono aces and two Golden Eagles error to tie up the contest at 13-apiece. Cal State LA then took command of the contest, going on a 6-1 run to re-take the lead, and following a Shepherd kill, the Golden Eagles scored six of the final seven points to win the set going away by a final of 25-16.
The 'Cats got off to a productive start in set number three—a DiNardo kill and Rodriguez/DiNardo block, combined with two Cal State LA miscues, staked Chico State to an early 4-1 lead. A 9-1 run vaulted the Golden Eagles on top 10-5, but Chico State answered with a DiNardo kill and an Osendorf/Shepherd combo block to pull to within three at 10-7. Cal State LA proceeded to score 10 of the next 13 points to balloon its advantage to 20-10. The Wildcats continued to battle, with Rodriguez registering a kill and an ace, and DiNardo adding a kill to make the score 20-14, but the Golden Eagles ended the set on a 5-1 run to win 25-15 and claim the match sweep.
The Wildcats return to Chico next weekend to play their first home matches of the 2022 season. Friday the 'Cats host the Otters of Cal State Monterey Bay, with San Francisco State visiting Acker Gym on Saturday. Both matches get underway at 5 p.m.
