CHICO, Calif. – The Chico State volleyball team had to quickly move on from one of the worst set results of the season and managed to hang on to beat Cal State San Marcos in five games (10-25, 25-20, 22-25, 25-21, 15-13) in their only meeting this season at Acker Gym on Friday.
At the halfway point of the conference schedule, Chico State (8-10) moves to 5-6 in the CCAA and begins the second half season well in the hunt for a postseason berth. Coupled with Sonoma State's loss at Cal State East Bay, the Wildcats and Seawolves are tied for the sixth and final spot to the conference tournament. Both teams are also one match behind both Stanislaus State and Cal State San Bernardino, both of which are 6-5.
Cashe Olswang collected 16 of the Wildcats' 54 kills, Kassandra Nall had 13 and Gwyneth Wentzel had 10 going up against her former team. On the defensive end, Jessie Camarillo reached for 21 digs and Brynna Geibel, another former member of the Cal State Marcos program, had 11. Claire Nordeen dished out 43 assists to lead the effort in the set department.
Cal State San Marcos (4-14, 2-9 CCAA) was offensively led by Jessica Thomas, who had 14 kills while hitting .355. Addison Kranz finished behind her with 13 kills. Although Jackie Phillips gathered 13 digs, it was a community effort for the Cougars. On the assist side, Kylie Bartel led the team with 39 successful sets.
The first set was all San Marcos, highlighted by a 16-2 run to clinch the opening round.
San Marcos appeared to be running away in the second set by taking a 7-3 from the start. Chico State flipped the momentum back and used a 10-2 run to move ahead 13-9. The Wildcats would eventually hang on to win the second set and go into intermission tied.
The third set was mostly neck-and-neck. Tied at 22, the Cougars got a kill, an attack error and a service ace to best the Wildcats in the third set.
In the fourth game, San Marcos earned two points to shrink Chico State's lead to 16-15. The Wildcats got three unanswered points by Nall, Kailie Flores and Olswang that eventually proved to be the difference in the set. The Wildcats would hold on to the lead and force the deciding set.
The Cougars opened the tiebreaker by winning the first three points. The Wildcats capitalized on three Cougar misses, a kill from Wentzel and a service ace from Jessica Ortiz to move ahead 5-3. Following a pair of CSUSM points, Chico scored five more points to take a five-point lead. The Cougars went on a 6-2 run to tie the game at 13. Kranz would make a costly attack error and a service ace by Camarillo sealed the comeback win for the Wildcats.
Chico State faces another ultimate test Saturday as it welcomes first-place Cal Poly Pomona for a 1 p.m. showdown. The Broncos head north of Highway 99 after sweeping Stanislaus State in Turlock tonight.
