CHICO, Calif. – The Chico State volleyball team had to play catch-up again and a late momentum prompted the Wildcats to take a five-set win (21-25, 25-14, 16-25, 25-19, 15-8) over Sonoma State at Pleasant Valley High School Saturday evening.
 
The Wildcats, despite at the last minute had to relocate to Pleasant Valley for the weekend after a power outage on campus forced the true home opener in Acker Gym to be postponed, have now won three straight matches and improve to 6-5 overall and 3-1 in the CCAA.
 
Freshman Claire Nordeen dished out a season-high 35 assists to go along with four kills and seven digs, Kassandra Nall had 13 kills to lead the attack while Jessie Camarillo reached for 15 digs and Brynna Geibel contributed to 11. Gwyneth Wentzel, fresh off a career-high in total blocks in last night's win against Cal Poly Humboldt, finished with six against Sonoma State, one shy from matching the personal best.
 
Sonoma State (5-5, 2-2 CCAA) was led by the trio of Peyton McBride, Jordyn Waite-Ward and Jackie Winfield, who all combined for 39 of the Seawolves' 56 kills on the evening.
 
Although Sonoma State made five straight errors to give the Wildcats an 11-9 lead in the opening round, the Seawolves scored three unanswered points shortly after and held on tightly to the game win.
 
Chico State had to defend a small margin of a lead in the second set until an 11-1 rally allowed the Wildcats to tie the match at one apiece.
 
Early into the third set, Sonoma State got on a four-point rally to move ahead 13-10 and then went on to win seven of the final eight serves to clinch the game win.
 
The Wildcats started the fourth game ahead 5-4 but extended that lead thanks to a four-point run. The wave fully shifted to the Wildcats late in the game, when they won four straight serves to take game four and force a deciding set. That momentum carried over into the fifth game as the Wildcats took a 4-1 lead to start the tiebreaker. The match was ultimately decided when a pair of 5-1 runs benefited the Wildcats.
 
With the power back on campus, Chico State will open Acker Gym for the first time in the 2024-25 school year on Friday when they host Cal State San Bernardino at 5 p.m. The Coyotes are also winners of three straight, most recently beating Cal State Monterey Bay and Cal State East Bay at Coussoulis Arena over the weekend.