TURLOCK – After having to hold off Academy of Art in Thursday's volleyball season opener, Chico State avoided a repeat going into Friday's morning matchup with Fresno Pacific at the Stan State Tournament.
Much like against the Knights, Chico State won the first two sets, Fresno Pacific claimed the third and nearly forced a deciding set until the 'Cats rallied late in the fourth game to escape with a 3-1 (25-18, 25-20, 22-25, 28-26) win over the Sunbirds in the morning slot.
Chico State will grab lunch and in a few short hours return to Fitzpatrick Arena to play Western Oregon at 4:30 p.m.
Less than 24 hours after recording 14 kills and 10 digs against Academy of Art in the opener, senior Zoe DiNardo broke past those two marks and set a new career-bests of 20 kills and 14 digs. Brooke Ono had a 44-assist, 11-dig morning, Jessie Camarillo improved her defense by making 17 digs, 10 more than Thursday night, Taylor White also had 15 digs while Lexi Carpenter had 10.
While the 'Cats as a whole hit .184 on the attack, defense certainly helped them win. The Sunbirds hit 15 percent on the front while the Wildcats made 74 digs and eight blocks, four of them came from Gwyneth Wentzel.
Chico State pulled away early in the first game by winning 9-of-11 serves to take a 9-3 lead. The Wildcats had two four-point rallies midway through the set that helped keep a good distance from the Sunbirds.
Fresno Pacific started the second set winning the first serves but Chico State responded with an eight-point rally to take an 8-2 lead. DiNardo scored three of those points on the attack. The lead did not last long as the Sunbirds came back and tied the game at 13. The two teams traded serves until Chico State got on a six-point run to take a 20-16 lead. The Wildcats eventually won five of the remaining six rallies to win the second set and take a 2-0 match lead.
The start of the third set was another see-saw battle. Fresno Pacific broke a 7-7 score by winning six straight points. The Wildcats eventually got the lead back when they went on a 5-0 run to take a 22-21 lead. The Sunbirds would go on to collect the final four points to win the third set 25-22.
Late into the fourth set, Fresno Pacific had a four-point run to put themselves ahead 24-22 and on the verge of forcing a deciding set. However, the Sunbirds had trouble locking up the win with back-to-back errors to give the Wildcats life. Fresno Pacific was on set point at 26-25 until the Wildcats got kills from Whyte and Cassidy Herbert followed by an attack error to give Chico State the match.
