Game 1 box | Game 2 box

ARCATA, Calif. - Despite losing eight players to graduation and returning just four from last season's 20-win squad, the Cal State East Bay volleyball team picked up where it left off to open the 2011 campaign, topping both Academy of Art and Notre Dame de Namur to sweep the first day of the Humboldt State Tournament on Friday. The Pioneers (2-0) swept the Urban Knights, 3-0 (25-23, 25-15, 25-18), before picking up a 3-1 (28-26, 25-20, 23-25, 25-12) victory over the Argonauts.

“We are a big-time work in progress, with tons of room to grow,” Spagle said. “But I am impressed with the potential of all of these women and even more impressed with their character off the court.”

The old and new faces worked together to pick up the pair of wins on Friday, as the team averaged 13.3 kills and 2.4 blocks per set on opening day. Newcomer Nicole Boyle led East Bay with 27 kills, while fellow junior transfer Morgan Hirzel added 18 putaways while hitting at a .395 clip. Returners Kitona Offord and Katie Allen also contributed, combining for 25 kills, with Allen adding eight service aces and Offord sharing the team lead with Hirzel with eight total blocks apiece.

“I was impressed with our new kids' ability to compete within our system and to maintain the discipline to pull out some tough matches against our two opponents,” Head Coach Jim Spagle said. “Leslie Ray had a very solid day at libero and Kitona Offord and Katie Allen competed well all day. Newcomer Nicole Boyle had a marvelous day too.”

Though the Pioneers scored the first point of the first match of the day, the Urban Knights grabbed hold of an early 10-5 lead in the first set. Cal Stat East Bay answered back, however, going on a 7-2 run thanks to three kills from Boyle and another two from Hirzel to tie the game at 12 points apiece.

The two teams would continue to exchange points until the Pioneers took hold of the serve with a kill from Boyle to tie the game at 23-23. From there, setter Kristin Neary served out, getting an AAU attack error to take a 24-23 advantage before setting up Hirzel for the game winning kill and the 1-0 lead.

Cal State East Bay trailed just once in the second set, but after reeling off four straight points at 13-13 to take a 17-13 lead, the Pioneers never looked back. CSUEB took advantage of 10 attack errors and a .051 hitting percentage by the Urban Knights to score 12 of the last 15 points and pick up a 25-15 victory to set up the three-game sweep.

The Pioneers jumped out to a 13-3 advantage in the third set, getting help from AAU, which had five attack errors early on in the set. Meanwhile, Boyle kicked off the set with two kills and a service ace in the opening 16 points. Though Academy of Art pulled within five points, 15-10, the Pioneers responded with a 15-8 run to take the set and the match with a 25-8 victory.

Hirzel hit at a .693 clip in the opening match, contributing nine kills, while Boyle laid down 11 kills and came up with seven digs. Neary dished out 29 assists against the Urban Knights and senior libero Leslie Ray – coming off an injury last season – led the team with 12 digs.

With one win under their belts, the Pioneers faced off against Notre Dame de Namur in the afternoon matchup. The first set got off to a slow start for East Bay, as the Argonauts built up a 15-10 lead early on. Though Hirzel and Offord added a pair of kills and NDNU made two errors, CSUEB still trailed 19-14, before Allen provided the spark the team needed to reel the Argonauts in.

After laying down a kill to make it 19-15, Allen dropped in a pair of aces – two of her six in the match. Behind Neary's serve again, the Pioneers pulled even at 21 points apiece and took advantage of three straight NDNU errors to take a 25-24 lead minutes later. After the Argonauts drew even at 26-26, East Bay shut the door, getting a pair of kills from Boyle to seal the first-set win.

The first half of set two saw the Argonauts grab momentum and pull ahead by five, 15-10, yet again. This time, however, the Pioneers went on a 15-5 run to finish the set off in dominating fashion. Allen and Boyle combined for six kills in the last 20 points, while Allen added a pair of aces to account for eight of the Pioneers' last 15 points in the second set.

After the break, a re-energized NDNU squad came out and again took an early lead in set three. Though East Bay pulled within one point late in the set, it never led in the third game. Bolstered by a .316 hitting percentage, the Argonauts put away 17 kills and a pair of aces to take the third set 25-23.

After NDNU killed the Pioneers' chance of a sweep in the second match of the day, Cal State East Bay rebounded in the fourth set to keep the match to just four games. The final set was all Pioneers, as they posted five team blocks, including a combined seven block assists for Hirzel and Offord in the middle. Though it hit at just a .160 clip in the fourth set, East Bay took advantage of the Argonauts' negative hitting percentage and 12 attack errors, never leading by fewer than five in the final 13 points of the match.

Boyle and Allen paced the Pioneers in the second match, combining for 28 kills and seven aces. Boyle posted her first double-double of the season, adding 14 digs to her 16 kills. Offord posted eight kills and added three solo blocks, while Ray notched 21 digs in match two.

Neary finished the day with 60 assists and helped the Pioneers hit at a .242 clip as a team, while Ray and Boyle held down the defense with 33 and 21 digs, respectively. Newcomers Tatum Bales, Lashay Cason and Samantha Bruno all came off the bench to contribute for the Pioneers, with Bruno and Cason combining for four total blocks and Bales posting seven digs and making just one reception error in 18 attempts in the back row.

“Middle hitters Samantha Bruno and Lashay Cason held their own against some experienced middles on both teams,” Spagle said. “Kristin Neary ran the offense extremely well for the most part and Tatum Bales was excellent in serve receive and defensively.”

Cal State East Bay returns to action tomorrow at 10 a.m. against Central Washington before closing out the tournament with St. Martin's at 4 p.m. The Wildcats went 2-0 to open the tournament on Friday as well, while the Saints topped NDNU before falling to Humboldt State in three games on opening day.

“We face even tougher competition tomorrow, which will really test us,” Spagle said. “We're looking for ward to the challenge though.”