CHICO, Calif. — One week after pushing undefeated Fresno Pacific to five sets in Fresno, the Chico State volleyball team couldn't duplicate the feat Saturday at Acker Gym, falling to the No. 4 Sunbirds 25-13, 25-18, 25-21.
The Wildcats (6-13, 2-9 CCAA) took two sets from Fresno Pacific (23-0, 11-0 CCAA) in last week's non-conference meeting before falling in five. Saturday's rematch marked the teams' first meeting as CCAA opponents and counted toward the conference standings.
The Wildcats finished with 40 kills and a .146 hitting percentage. The Sunbirds hit .365 with 45 kills and seven attack errors. Fresno Pacific also finished with eight total blocks to Chico State's three and four service aces to the Wildcats' one, while the 'Cats had 46 digs to the Sunbirds' 45.
Whitney Fairfield led Chico State with 11 kills while hitting .391 and added two block assists. Claire Nordeen recorded 29 assists, six kills and four digs. Sophia Heller finished with nine kills, nine digs and one block assist. Kassandra Nall added seven kills and a team-high 10 digs.
Madelyn Feramisco led the Sunbirds with 10 kills, adding 12 digs, two blocks and an ace while hitting .455. Mikayla Weiss recorded 38 assists with eight digs, three blocks and two aces. Rylee Pitney finished with a team-high five blocks and added seven kills on a .545 hitting percentage. Makayla Smith added seven kills without an attack error on 16 swings, hitting .438 with an ace.
The Sunbirds took the opening set 25-13, producing 17 kills to the Wildcats' 10 and adding the set's only service ace. Nall and Heller had four kills apiece for Chico State, while Addisen Hamilton finished with five kills for Fresno Pacific and Feramisco added three kills and the ace.
Chico State and the Sunbirds each had 13 kills in the second set, with Fairfield putting down six for the Wildcats, but Fresno Pacific committed three attack errors to Chico State's eight and held a 3-1 edge in aces. The 'Cats moved from a 3-1 deficit to a 6-4 lead early, capped by a Sinam Minasian ace and a Fairfield kill, before the Sunbirds took the set 25-18.
Chico State held a 17-15 kills advantage in the third set, led by Nordeen's six kills, but Fresno Pacific finished with three attack errors to the Wildcats' nine and took the set 25-21. The 'Cats cut a 14-9 deficit to 14-13 behind three straight Nordeen kills and a block by Fairfield and Nordeen, while the Sunbirds got four kills from Morgan Castaneda and 15 assists from Weiss.
The Wildcats host Cal State San Marcos in their only meeting of the season on Friday at 5 p.m. at Acker Gym.
