The Chico State volleyball team was firing on all cylinders Friday during the first set of their California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) match against Cal State East Bay. The Wildcats seemed to be primed to upset one of the conference's top teams, but the obviously stunned Pioneers quickly regrouped and dominated the rest of the contest, handing the 'Cats a 25-15, 10-25, 18-25, 21-25 defeat at Acker Gym.
Chico State slipped to 3-9 on the season and 1-4 in the CCAA with Friday's loss, while Cal State East Bay improved to 11-2 overall and 4-1 in conference play.
Bree Rodriguez and Zoe DiNardo led the Wildcats with nine kills apiece, while Grace Shepherd and Cassidy Herbert each floored six winners on the evening. DiNardo contributed seven blocks, with Rodriguez totaling five stuffs at the net. Brooke Ono collected 32 assists for the 'Cats, with Jessie Camarillo adding a team-high 18 digs.
The match started innocently enough with Chico State and East Bay splitting the first 10 points of the opening set. The Wildcats then suddenly broke the contest open with an impressive 15-3 run, highlighted by three Camarillo service aces, four kills by Shepherd and three from DiNardo, and a Rodriguez/DiNardo combo block. Sporting a 20-8 advantage, the 'Cats used a late ace by Ono and kills by Shepherd, Rodriguez, and Lauryn Osendorf to cruise to the 25-15 victory.
Unfortunately for the Wildcats, they could not maintain that opening-set fire. The Pioneers raced out to a 4-1 lead in the second set and never looked back. Chico State pulled to within 5-4, but this time it was East Bay that put together a serious run, outscoring the 'Cats 11-5 to go up 16-9. Following a kill by Rodriguez, the Pioneers proceeded to close out the set on a 9-0 run to win 25-10 and even the match.
East Bay continued to bunch together a sizeable amount of points in the third set, racing out to an 11-3 lead. The Pioneers extended their advantage to double digits, and took a 20-9 lead into the set's late stages. The Wildcats put together a 9-3 run and cut the deficit to 23-18 down the stretch on the strength of kills by Rodriguez, DiNardo, Herbert, and Brooklynn Anderson, but the scoring spurt proved too little and too late as East Bay posted the final two points to take the set 25-18.
The 'Cats were once again forced to play catchup in the fourth set, falling behind the Pioneers 17-11. Chico State hung around, though, and thanks to a pair of solo blocks by DiNardo, a Rodriguez/Herbert combo block, and kills by Herbert and Nya Prescott, the Wildcats pulled to within 20-19. Following a time out, East Bay righted the ship by scoring three straight points, and despite a late Herbert kill and a Taylor Whyte ace, the Pioneers used kills by Mia Jordan and Megan Crecelius to put the finishing touches on the 25-21 set victory and the match win.
Chico State returns to Acker Gym Saturday to host the Cougars of San Marcos (4-8, 3-2 CCAA). The match is scheduled to begin in the early afternoon, with a special start time of 2 p.m. Fans unable to attend in person can follow the action online with Live Stats and live streaming video on the CCAA Network. Access to the live video stream requires a subscription fee that grants users access to every conference event, home and away, on the network.
