Box Score SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – The Cal State East Bay volleyball team notched its most impressive victory of the season on Friday night, beating defending CCAA champion Cal State San Bernardino on the road in five sets (20-25, 19-25, 25-21, 25-22, 15-7). For the Pioneers (7-10, 2-8 CCAA), it was their first road victory in conference play, and it snapped a three-match losing streak. For the Coyotes (11-7, 8-2 CCAA), it marks only their third home loss in the past five years.

East Bay came back from down 2-0 to win the final three sets. This was the first time all season the Pioneers have won a five-set match, and it snaps a seven-match winning streak for Cal State San Bernardino. Overall, it was an extremely close match. Statistically, the Pioneers were able to edge their SoCal foes in several major categories, including team kills (54 to 52), assists (52 to 48), blocks (12.0 to 10.0) and hitting percentage (.176 to .132).

"We needed that," said head coach Jim Spagle after the match. "I'm very proud of our athletes tonight."

A number of impressive individual performances fueled the comeback. Junior Hannah Bell led the East Bay attackers with 13 kills on 39 attempts. She was one of two Pioneers to post a double-double, adding 16 digs. Senior Jade Sanford was just what the team needed as she had one of her best matches in the red and black. Sanford notched 11 kills and six total blocks, and she led all players with a .667 attack percentage. Junior Suzy Ni Xu had a solid night, hitting .276 with 11 kills.

Senior Nicole Boyle posted five kills and nine digs, sophomore Samantha Bruno added six kills and five blocks, and senior Nikki Long contributed six kills with five blocks. Sophomore libero Veronica Sanchez led the Pioneers with 18 digs from the back line. Finally, it was an extremely impressive night for the East Bay setters. Junior Samantha Siebert racked up 26 assists, nine digs, and four service aces. Senior Danielle Stewart, meanwhile, turned in her first double-double of the season, with 16 assists, 13 digs, and three aces.

The Pioneers lost the first two sets, quickly putting themselves in a hole. They were out-hit .250 to .129 in the first set, playing from behind most of the time. They fell behind again in the second set, making too many attack errors and hitting under .100. Late in the set, the Pioneers won four out of five points to pull within one. But the Coyotes righted the ship and won six of the last seven points to close out the set.

East Bay turned things around after that and out-hit Cal State San Bernardino the rest of the way. The jumped out to an 11-5 lead and were able to sustain that margin throughout, withstanding multiple Coyote comebacks to extend the match. The fourth set featured back-and-forth action, with neither team leading by more than four points. The Pioneers forced their opponents into 10 attack errors and won four of the final five points to keep themselves alive.

The fifth set was all Pioneers. With momentum in their favor and the comeback almost complete, East Bay rattled off eight of the last ten points to earn the upset victory. As a team, they hit .500, playing nearly flawless volleyball in the final frame.

For the Cal State San Bernardino, Alexandra Torline led the team with 16 kills, but no Coyote attackers were able to get in a rhythm. Libero Arielle McCullough paced all players with 19 digs. Reigning CCAA Player of the Week Camille Smith was the lone bright spot offensively for the Coyotes. The senior setter hit .333 with seven kills and notched a double-double with 39 assists and 12 digs.

The Pioneers continue their Southern California road trip with another tough match tomorrow night. Looking to ride the momentum from their huge comeback win, East Bay will take on UC San Diego Saturday evening with the first serve set for 7 p.m.