Carson, Calif. – The Chico State volleyball team continued its run of tightly contested battles Friday night but came up just short in its second straight five-set match. The Wildcats erased a one-set deficit twice and forced a deciding frame, only for Cal State Dominguez Hills to pull away late and claim a 3–2 win (25–11, 22–25, 25–22, 19–25, 15–10) at the Torodome.
Chico State dropped to 4–9 on the season and 0–5 in the CCAA. Dominguez Hills improved to 5–6 overall and 2–3 in conference play.
Notable Performances
Maria Wahl – 20 kills, 25 digs, 4 blocks, 22.0 points
Cashe Olswang – 13 kills, 10 digs, 5 blocks, 17.5 points
Claire Nordeen – 42 assists, 21 digs, 4 kills, 4.0 points
Jessie Camarillo – 17 digs, 4 assists, .941 reception
Gwyneth Wentzel – 12 kills, 1 ace, 2 blocks, 14.0 points
Match Summary
Set 1 – Dominguez Hills dominated out of the gate, hitting .481 and forcing five early Wildcat errors in a lopsided 25–11 opening set.
Set 2 – Chico bounced back with its most efficient hitting set (.196), and behind six kills from Maria Wahl, closed on a 10–3 run to even the match, 25–22.
Set 3 – A back-and-forth battle saw Chico tie the set 21–21, but a late ace and attack error gave the Toros the edge in a 25–22 win.
Set 4 – Chico hit .162 and out-blocked the Toros 4–2 in the frame, using a pair of kills from Wentzel and a well-placed ace from Olswang to close out a 25–19 victory.
Set 5 – The Wildcats fell behind 8–3 and never recovered, despite cutting the deficit to 11–9. Dominguez Hills finished strong to take the match 15–10.
By the Numbers
– Chico State finished with 58 kills and hit .135 as a team
– The Wildcats had 11.0 total team blocks and 86 digs across five sets
– Maria Wahl and Jessie Camarillo each had 25+ digs for the second straight match
– Chico had 14 total team blocks over the last two matches combined
– The 'Cats outscored the Toros 25–19 in Set 4 while hitting .162 with just 7 errors
– Claire Nordeen recorded her sixth double-double of the season
– The Wildcats are now 2–3 in five-set matches this year
Wildcat Whispers
– Chico State still leads the all-time series 38–17 and is now 6–5 when matches go to five sets
– This is the first time the Wildcats have played back-to-back five-set matches since Oct. 18 and 25, 2024 vs. Stanislaus State and Cal State San Marcos
– Maria Wahl has 47 kills and 36 digs over her last two matches
– Cashe Olswang has 21 kills and 6 blocks in her last two matches
– Jessie Camarillo now has double-digit digs in 9 of 10 matches played this season
Up Next
Chico State will head north on the 710 to take on Cal State LA on Saturday at 5 p.m. The Golden Eagles swept the Wildcats in three sets in Acker Gym two weeks ago.
