FRESNO, Calif. – The Chico State volleyball team got the 2024 season underway in the Central Valley on Friday at Fresno Pacific's Sunbird Classic, sweeping Academy of Art in the morning but suffered the same outcome against the hosts in the afternoon.
The Wildcats got a strong effort in the front from Kassandra Nall, who tallied 17 kills throughout the day while Maria Wahl had 14 and Gwyneth Wentzel and Kylie Matthews each had 11.
Also in both matches, Claire Nordeen dished out 25 assists while Caitlyn Eichhorst contributed to 26 successful sets off the bench.
On the defensive side, Jessie Camarillo reached out for 21 digs, Brynna Geibel had 17 to go along with three service aces.
The season began with the Wildcats taking a 6-1 lead over Academy of Art with help from three Urban Knight errors. Despite a 7-1 rally that helped Academy of Art cut the score to 18-15, Chico State went on to win seven of the final nine serves to take the opening set.
Set two against Academy of Art was tighter than the first one. After back-to-back points awarded to the Urban Knights trimmed the lead to 16-15, the Wildcats got on a 7-1 rally to reclaim control the rest of the set to take a 2-0 match lead.
The third round, much like set two, was neck-and-neck for most of the game. Tied at 21, Chico State got the benefit of three straight Academy of Art errors to take the lead. After two straight Urban Knight points in match point, the third time was a charm as Nall got the kill to secure the win for Chico State.
Going up against the host Fresno Pacific, the first set was close, with neither side leading by more than four points. Chico State was down 21-16 when it got a four-point rally behind two kills from Nall, one from Nordeen and a service ace from Wildcat newcomer Cashe Olswang, cutting the deficit to one point. The Sunbirds eventually took four of the final five serves to take the opening set.
The Wildcats had a 13-12 lead in the second set until the Sunbirds went on a five-point run to take command. Chico State kept it close until Fresno Pacific won five straight again to take the set and a 2-0 match lead.
Down 22-15 in the third set, Wentzel got the sideout that began a five-point rally to narrow the gap to two. The Wildcats could only get one point in the final rallies while the Sunbirds got two kills and an ace to complete the match sweep.
The Wildcats conclude their visit in Fresno Saturday against Dominican. First serve is at 9 a.m. It will be the first of two non-conference meetings between the Wildcats and Penguins.
