Box Score HAYWARD, Calif. – The Cal State East Bay volleyball team defeated San Francisco State in the annual “Battle of the Bay” on Saturday night by the score of 3-2 (16-25, 26-24, 25-17, 28-30, 17-15). It was truly a marathon of a match, with three of the five sets requiring extra points to decide a winner. This was the second straight home victory over SF State for the Pioneers (8-12, 3-10 CCAA), who salvage a 1-1 record for the weekend.

Tonight was perhaps the closest and most emotional match the Pioneers have played all season, with the two teams essentially trading points throughout the fourth and fifth sets. With a .167 attack percentage for the match, it was not the most impressive offensive display for East Bay. Although the Gators (14-6, 9-4 CCAA) hit only .162 themselves, they bested the Pioneers handily in team kills (73 to 53) and assists (68-48). Cal State East Bay, however, did a much better job limiting mistakes, as they committed just 21 attack errors to the Gators' 37, as well as seven service errors to the Gators' 14.

SF State jumped out of the gate strong and took control of the match with a decisive first-set victory. The Gators hit .349 as a team behind the strong play of Meagan Wright, who had seven kills without an error, and Iris Tolenada, who notched 15 assists. With their backs almost against the wall, the Pioneers came back to gut out a two-point win in the second set. Nikki Long led the way with four kills, and the team forced 11 Gator errors.

With momentum on their side, the third set was pretty much all Pioneers, as they led the whole way. SF State hit just -.026 for the set, which allowed East Bay to cruise despite not one player topping two kills. The fourth set was when the match really became intense. The teams played nearly even with each other, and it took 58 points for the Gators to hang on and extend the match. Kelly Ostello was huge for SF State in the fourth frame, posting 7 kills.

The final set was a true nail-biter, as the teams picked up where they left off in set four. Neither school led by more than two points in the fifth, and both teams had opportunities to seal the victory at the end. Fortunately for the Pioneers, this turned out to be their night. As Samantha Bruno hammered home her sixth kill to secure the 17-15 win, the Pioneer bench erupted in celebration.

“Learning how to win these types of matches has proven to be a challenge for us,” said head coach Jim Spagle after the match. “Tonight, after coughing it up in the fourth set, the easy thing to do would have been to roll over and succumb to our opponents. I'm very pleased and proud of my team's ability to pick themselves up and come out swinging in game five.”

It was an outstanding team effort, as Cal State East Bay got contributions from a number of players. Nicole Boyle led the team with 11 kills and three service aces, also adding 19 digs. Suzy Ni Xu and Nikki Long, the next two leading attackers for the Pioneers, posted nine and eight kills, respectively. Jade Sanford dominated on the defensive side of the net, leading all players with seven total blocks and also adding seven kills.

Libero Veronica Sanchez played an outstanding match, totaling 5 assists and a match-high 39 digs. As for the Pioneer setters, Samantha Siebert notched 22 assists and eight digs, while Danielle Stewart was all over the scoresheet with 18 assists, six kills, and 12 digs. Stewart reaslly gave the Pioneers a lift on this night, several times going over on two and catching SF State off-guard for a kill.

For the Gators, Wright led all players with 24 kills, and Ostello hit .325 and scored 16 kills. Tolenada was all over the floor, racking up 55 assists to go along with 23 digs. Jaclyn Clark and Jessica Nicerio also topped the 20-dig mark for SF State.

“We grew a great deal as a team tonight,” added Spagle. “We can build on this performance for the remainder of our season.”

Cal State East Bay's season continues with two more home matches next week against a couple of Southern California foes. The Pioneers will host Cal State LA this Thursday and Cal State Dominguez Hills on Friday, with both matches set for 7 p.m. at Pioneer Gym.