SAN RAFAEL—The Chico State volleyball team wrapped up the non-conference portion of its schedule with a pair of matches Saturday as part of the final day of the NorCal Kickoff. Despite solid efforts in both contests, things did not go the Wildcats' way, as head coach Tommy Gott's squad was beaten in five sets by Academy of Art 23-25, 25-14, 20-25, 25-22, 12-15, and swept by Fresno Pacific 11-25, 16-25, 17-25 at the Conlan Center in San Rafael.
Saturday's two NorCal Kickoff losses dropped Chico State to 2-5 on the season.
Grace Shepherd led the Wildcats' offense with 28 kills in the two matches—including a career-high 19 against Academy of Art—as well as registering six blocks. Zoe DiNardo enjoyed her biggest match as a Wildcat, flooring 17 kills versus Academy of Art, and finished with 21 kills on the day. Bree Rodriguez added a combined 13 kills and a half-dozen blocks; Nariah Prescott had 12 total kills and three blocks, and Lauryn Osendorf piled up seven kills and 11 blocks over the two matches.
Brooke Ono doled out 70 assists in the eight Saturday sets while contributing 32 digs, two service aces, and three blocks. Lexi Carpenter added 28 digs; Jessie Camarillo tallied 22 successful bumps, and Kate Beezer accounted for 15 digs on the day.
In Saturday's first match against Academy of Art, Chico State started slowly; in fact, the Wildcats never held a lead in the opening set. The Urban Knights jumped in front 7-3, but the 'Cats tied up the contest at 9-all on the strength of kills by DiNardo, Rodriguez, and Prescott. Academy of Art went back up 13-10, but three unanswered Chico State points—kills by Shepherd and Prescott plus an Ono ace—knotted things up at 13-apiece. The Urban Knights immediately regained the lead at 18-14, forcing the Wildcats to play catch-up. Chico State pulled to within one on three different occasions, but Academy of Art was able to hold on to squeak out the 25-23 opening set victory.
The 'Cats bounced back nicely in set number two. Already up 6-5, Chico State reeled off an 11-3 run—DiNardo floored four kills during the stretch, with Shepherd, Prescott, and Osendorf registering winners—to extend the Wildcats' advantage to 17-8. Chico State's lead ballooned to a dozen at 22-10, and following a 4-1 mini-run by Academy of Art, DiNardo and Prescott provided the kills necessary to officially seal the deal, giving the 'Cats a match-evening 25-14 win.
The two teams split the first 10 points of the third set before the Urban Knights built an early 10-7 lead. An 8-4 Chico State run, highlighted by combo blocks by Osendorf/Shepherd and Osendorf/Prescott, plus kills by DiNardo, Rodriguez, and Shepherd, put the Wildcats ahead 15-14. The Urban Knights answered by scoring seven of the next eight points to go back in front 21-16, and that would prove to be too great a deficit for the 'Cats to overcome. Despite a late kill by Rodriguez and an Osendorf/Shepherd combo block, Academy of Art held off Chico State to win the set 25-20.
The fourth set started off promisingly for the 'Cats, riding three Shepherd kills and one apiece by Ono, DiNardo, and Prescott to jump out to an 8-5 lead. The Urban Knights came back to tie things up at 9-all, and the contest was still deadlocked 13-13 when Academy of Art went on a 6-2 run to go out in front 19-15. Now with their backs to the wall, the Wildcats rallied, scoring eight of the next 10 points—Shepherd hammering three kills and aiding in a pair of combo blocks during the stretch—to put Chico State on top 23-21. Following an Urban Knights point, the 'Cats used a Jane Mcnulty kill and an Academy of Art error to put the finishing touches on an exciting 25-22 win.
Chico State combined an Ono ace, an Ono/Osendorf combo block, and kills by Rodriguez, Shepherd, and Prescott to race out to a 5-1 advantage in the fifth and deciding set, only to see the Urban Knights stage a 9-1 run to vault in the lead at 10-6. Once again the Wildcats dug deep, scoring the next four points to pull even at 10-10. Unfortunately, that would prove to be the Wildcats' last hurrah, as Academy of Art regained the lead and outscored Chico State 5-2 in crunch time to win the set 15-12 and the match.
The Wildcats took on Fresno Pacific Saturday evening in the concluding match of the NorCal Kickoff, and the Sun Birds came out firing in the first set. Fresno Pacific jumped out to a 7-1 lead, and though Chico State tallied three of the next four points—Sheppard collecting two kills, with Prescott adding another winner—the Sun Birds promptly went on a 4-0 mini-run to extend its advantage to 12-4. Try as they might, the 'Cats were unable to put together a sizeable string of points to get them back into the contest. Chico State trailed 17-10 when Fresno Pacific secured the set with an 8-1 run to win going away 25-11.
Kills by Osendorf and Gretta Kirkby, an Osendorf solo block, and a pair of service aces by Beezer put the Wildcats up 5-4 lead to open the second set. The lead was short-lived, however, as the Sun Birds used a 9-3 run to move out in front 13-8. An Osendorf/DiNardo combo block and kills by Osendorf, DiNardo, and Camarillo pulled the 'Cats to within 14-12, but Fresno Pacific quickly gave itself some breathing room by scoring three straight points, and despite late kills by DiNardo, Prescott, and Rodriguez, the Sun Birds finished on a 7-1 run to register the 25-16 victory.
Chico State grabbed an early 3-2 lead early in the fourth set courtesy of a Rodriguez ace and kills by Rodriguez and Shepherd, only to see Fresno Pacific go on an 8-1 run to grab a 10-4 advantage. The Wildcats immediately climbed back into the contest, stringing together five Sun Birds miscues with kills by Shepherd and DiNardo to climb back on top 11-10. The next big run belonged to Fresno Pacific, which promptly racked up seven straight winners to regain the lead 17-11. Kills by Rodriguez and DiNardo helped the 'Cats close to within 18-15, but the Sunbirds answered with their third big run of the set, outscoring the 'Cats 7-2 at the end to wrap up the 25-17 win and the match sweep.
Chico State begins California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) play next week in Southern California with a pair of conference matches. Friday the Wildcats will be in Carson to take on Cal State Dominguez Hills at 5 p.m., then square off Saturday for a 2 p.m. match versus Cal State LA.
