Box score

CHICO, Calif. - A productive night from Chico State's Jessica Leek helped the WIldcats post a 3-0 (25-16, 25-21, 26-24) victory over the Cal State East Bay volleyball team on Saturday night. The Pioneers (9-4, 5-4 CCAA) out-blocked Chico State and nearly matched its .299 hitting percentage for the match, but could not hold off Leek, who finished with 18 kills and four total blocks. Despite the loss, East Bay finished the week with a 2-1 record after topping both Cal State Monterey Bay and Cal State Stanislaus.

Junior Kitona Offord led the Pioneers with nine kills on the night and hit at a .500 percentage with just one error in 16 attempts. Morgan Hirzel followed with eight kills, while swinging at a .368 clip and adding three total blocks, including one solo effort. Nicole Boyle joined Hirzel with eight kills and was second on the team with 15 digs in the losing effort. Senior Leslie Ray led all players with 19 digs and Kristin Neary and Danielle Stewart shared setting duties, combining for 29 assists.

Leek was joined in double figure kills by Alex Shurtz, who contributed 10 putaways and two total blocks. Lindsay Quigly helped the Wildcats hit nearly .300, posting six kills with no errors and swinging at a .667 clip. Sable Villaescusa dished out 42 assists, while Makenzie Snyder's 11 digs led the team. 

The Pioneers finished with 36 kills and just 10 errors, hitting .236 in the match. East Bay held a 7-6 advantage in blocks, led by Katie Allen's two solo blocks. On the other side of the net, the WIldcats finished with 49 kills and five service aces, led by Leek's four aces to round out her impressive night.

Set 1 - Chico State 25, Cal State East Bay 16
The two teams opened the match exchanging points, with the Pioneers tying the set at eight points apiece on an ace from Neary. The Wildcats followed with a 10-3 run that included a pair of four-point streaks and a pair of service aces from Leek. Trailing 18-11, Cal State East Bay put together a 5-3 run of its own to pull within five points before Chico State closed out the set with four unanswered points, capped by a kill from Leek. 

Set 2 - Chico State 25, Cal State East Bay 21
Though the Pioneers opened the second set with the first point, Chico State opened up a 15-7 lead early on, taking advantage of five East Bay errors in the opening 22 points. East Bay rebounded, though, closing the gap to five with a 4-1 run that saw the Wildcats commit a pair of service errors. Chico answered back, gaining a nine-point advantage, 21-12 before the Pioneers reeled off eight straight points. The run saw Boyle, Allen, Offord and Samantha Bruno contribute kills, while Offord and Hirzel put together a pair of blocks to bring the score to 21-20. The two teams then exchanged points, making it 22-21 in favor of the Wildcats before they took advantage of a pair of errors from the Pioneers and another Leek putaway to take a 2-0 lead at the break.

Set 3 - Chico State 26, Cal State East Bay 24
The final set was the closest of the match, as the two teams were tied 10 times in the set. The first half of the set was all Chico State, with the Wildcats opening up an 13-7 lead thanks to four points from Leek early on. The Pioneers found their rhythm, putting together an 8-3 run to tie the set at 16 points apiece. The run saw Hirzel notch a three kills and Ray drop in a service ace. From there, neither team scored more than three points in a row, with the two squads tying at 17 and 18 before the Pioneers regained the lead at 20-18 on an Allen ace and a kill from Nikki Long. Chico State answered right back, however, tying the match at 20 before East Bay scored a pair to go up 22-20. After another tie score at 22-22, East Bay took another lead, 23-22, on a rare error by Leek. The Wildcats tied things up again at 23 before the Pioneers took their final lead of the set and match at 24-23 on a kill from Boyle. Chico State finished off the match in style though, getting three straight points from Leek, capped by back-to-back aces. 

Cal State East Bay returns to action on Tuesday, when it plays host to its final non-conference opponent of the season in Notre Dame de Namur. The Pioneers and Argonauts are set for a 7 p.m. first serve at Pioneer Gym.