Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Hayward, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay volleyball team made a statement on Friday with two decisive victories as tournament co-hosts. The Pioneers (4-1) have now won three straight matches after logging 3-0 sweeps over both Holy Names and Academy of Art. With two more matches tomorrow, the Pioneers have put themselves in position to compete for the championship of the inaugural Route 92 Showdown.

Cal State East Bay started its weekend strong with a three-set victory over the Holy Names Hawks (25-16, 25-17, 25-22). The team was able to overcome 11 service errors thanks to consistent play on offense from a handful of attackers. The Pioneers committed just 13 total attack errors and posted attack percentages of .235, .225, and .220 in the three sets, each time out-hitting Holy Names by a substantial margin. Senior Nicole Boyle led the way for the Pioneers, pacing the squad with 9 kills and 15 digs and posting a solid .296 attack percentage. Junior Samantha Siebert handled most of the setting responsibilities, racking up 29 assists to go along with 12 digs.

After an impressive tournament last weekend in Alaska, junior Suzy Ni Xu continued to play a major role offensively, adding nine kills of her own. The Pioneers also got particularly strong play from the middle blocker position. Sophomore Samantha Bruno contributed five kills and three total blocks, while junior Brittany Dominguez posted seven kills without an error for a sparkling .700 attack percentage. It was a team effort on defense, as four different Pioneers (Boyle, Siebert, Hannah Bell, and Veronica Sanchez) notched double-digit digs for the match. 

The Pioneers started to pull away from Holy Names early in the match. With the score tied 11-11 in the first set, Cal State East Bay scored eight of the next 10 points, eventually cruising to a 25-16 victory. In the second set, the team waited a bit longer to make its move. Trailing 12-7 at one point, the Pioneers clawed back behind solid serving from Bruno and Siebert, and then took over the lead for good by winning 12 of the set's final 14 points.

The third set was a series of runs from both teams. Cal State East Bay jumped out to a 14-7 lead, but Holy Names fought back to tie the score 16-16. The set remained close after that, but the Pioneers were able to hang on for the 25-22 victory to complete the three-set sweep.

In the second match of their doubleheader, the Pioneers took on Academy of Art, which was coming off a tough five-set loss to San Francisco State. Cal State East Bay got off to a blistering start, grabbing an 11-3 lead and forcing an Urban Knight timeout. Academy of Art came back and made it a four-point game, but the deficit proved to be insurmountable, and the Pioneers rode strong performances from Siebert and Xu to a 25-20 win.

The second set was a hard-fought, back-and-forth affair that took extra points to determine a winner. Cal State East Bay once again jumped out of the gate strong, taking a 7-1 lead, but the Urban Knights would counter with a run of their own to tie the game 11-11. It was an evenly-matched contest the rest of the way, but the Pioneers ended up out-hitting Academy of Art .206 to .176 and held on for the 28-26 victory.

After winning its first five sets of the day, Cal State East Bay went for the kill to close out Day #1 of the tournament. The Pioneers outlasted the Urban Knights 25-19, never once trailing in the third set. Cal State East Bay ultimately did a better job limiting mistakes, making just 9 attack errors for the match, while Academy of Art committed 18.

Several Pioneers turned in solid performances in the nightcap. Xu led the way with 11 kills and a .360 attack percentage to go along with four digs, two blocks, and two aces. Boyle added seven kills, as well as a team-high 15 digs. Dominguez and Bruno continued their efficient play in the middle, combining for 10 kills without an attack error.

Siebert was once again the primary setter, filling up the score sheet with 31 assists and seven digs. Sophomore libero Veronica Sanchez was second on the squad with 11 digs, and junior Hannah Bell contributed seven kills and nine digs as one of the Pioneers' primary attackers.

Cal State East Bay is off to a solid start in 2012, but head coach Jim Spagle noted the need for continued improvement from his team. "Early in the season, it can be a challenge to get everyone playing within our system and our style, especially with the newcomers and limited practices," Spagle said after the second match.

"I think sometimes players are afraid to make mistakes and it's easy for them to fall back into their old comfort zones. We saw that especially in our first match. But I thought in the second match, we played with more discipline, more within our system. We fought harder and competed better, which was good to see. We have two really tough matches on Saturday, so we'll have continue that level of improvement we saw from the first match to the second match, and keep building on that tomorrow."

The Pioneers will be back in action Saturday for Day #2 of the Route 92 Showdown at Pioneer Gym. The team will take on Northwest Nazarene at 2 PM, followed by Cal Baptist at 7 PM for the tournament's final match.