Box Score HAYWARD, Calif. --- One night after upsetting No. 11 Sonoma State in their most thrilling victory of the season, the Pioneer volleyball team fell in straight sets to visiting San Francisco State on Saturday night (27-25, 25-21, 25-19). Cal State East Bay (7-12, 3-8 CCAA) dropped its fifth straight Saturday match. The Gators (9-10, 4-7 CCAA) snapped a four-match losing streak with the victory.
The Pioneers were out-hit .259 to .193 and out-blocked 11 to 7 on the night.
Samantha Bruno had an extremely efficient night on the attack, hitting .529 with 10 kills.
Suzy Ni Xu matched Bruno's team high with 10 kills of her own. Kitonsa Offord hit .444 with five kills, and
Katie Allen added eight kills.
Hannah Bell notched five kills and led the team with 12 digs. Defensive specialists
Veronica Sanchez and
Angie Maina notched six digs apiece.
Ashia Joseph racked up 29 assists and six digs, while fellow setter
Aimee Kyed came off the bench to post nine assists and four digs.
East Bay actually got off to a great start in the match, jumping out to a 16-8 lead. The Gators immediately rallied back, however, and went on an 8-2 run to cut the Pioneers' lead to two. The Pioneers still had a good chance to win the set after Xu slammed home a kill to make it 24-22, but SFSU won three straight to force extra points and finished off the comeback victory with consectuve kills by Meagan Wright and Kelly Ostello. East Bay actually out-hit the visitors .244 to .227 in the opening frame.
The second set was a very tight contest, as the teams traded points until SFSU led by just one at 20-19. Once again, however, the Gators secured the big points when the needed them, winning three straight to put the game out of reach. SF State hit .306 in the second frame, the best for either team in any set.
The Gators were able to finish off the sweep in a third set that, while certainly not a blowout, was controlled by the visitors throughout. SFSU jumped out to 6-3 advantage and never relinquished the lead. A mini-run brought the Pioneers within two at 14-12, but that was the closest they would get.
After notching their third straight 1-1 weekend at Pioneer Gym, East Bay is back on the road next weekend with matches at Chico State and Cal State Stanislaus.
