TURLOCK – The Chico State volleyball team took the first two sets against Academy of Art, the Knights rallied to force a deciding set which the Wildcats held on to win the season opener (25-22, 25-23, 19-25, 15-25, 11-15) at the Stan State Tournament at Fitzpatrick Arena Thursday afternoon.
 
Zoe DiNardo finished with 14 kills and 10 digs to lead the 'Cats on both sides of the ball. In fact, her last double-double was against the very same Academy of Art team last year. Brooke Ono also had a double-double with 26 assists and 10 digs. Lexi Carpenter collected a team-most 19 digs to round out Chico State.
 
Chico State had to come from a 3-point deficit by winning 5-of-6 rallies to tie the contest at 10. The 'Cats then broke away from the Knights by going on an 8-3 run to build a 22-17 lead. Academy of Art had one last rally going until DiNardo got a kill to secure the 25-22 set win for Chico State.
 
Round two found Chico State in a 10-6 hole after Academy of Art won 8-of-9 serves. The Wildcats returns the flow to them as they won nine of the next 10 rallies to take a 15-11 lead. Much like the first set, the end of the second was a nail-biter. Tied at 21, Cassidy Herbert got two kills and Taylor Whyte got one to put the Wildcats at set point. Academy of Art won the next two serves until Whyte got a kill to secure the second set win.
 
After Academy of Art won the next two games to force a deciding set, the Knights got early control of the tiebreaker by taking a 6-3 lead. The 'Cats eventually came back and broke a 9-point tie by winning six straight services, including a kill and a service ace from Ono. Whyte would get the final kill to take the match win.
 
Chico State returns to Fitzpatrick Arena to play two matches, first against Fresno Pacific at 9 a.m. and then against Western Oregon at 4:30 p.m. Both matches can be followed on the CCAA Network.