HAYWARD, Calif. --- The Cal State East Bay volleyball has completed the first half of its California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) schedule and this weekend will hit the road to begin playing each school a second time. The Pioneers (7-12, 3-8 CCAA) will visit Chico State on Friday night and Cal State Stanislaus on Saturday night, with both matches set for 7 p.m.
WEEKEND RECAP
It's been a rollercoaster season so far for the Pioneers, starting with a four-match losing streak, followed by a five-match winning streeak, followed by a six-match losing streak. Last weekend was a microcosm of that as East Bay picked up its most impressive win of the year, outlasting No. 11 Sonoma State in a five-set thriller. The Seawolves came in having won eight in a row, the last five without dropping a set. But
Katie Allen led the Pioneers to a stunning upset by hiting .471 with a season-high 19 kills.Â
The high from Friday only lasted so long, however. On Saturday night, San Francisco State came into Hayward and swept East Bay in three sets. Despite 10 kills each from
Samantha Bruno and
Suzy Ni Xu, the team's serve-receive had issues and their attackers struggled against the Gator block.
K.O. STANDS ALONE
With nine total blocks last weekend, senior
Kitona Offord broke the school record for total career blocks. Offord is now the all-time Pioneer block leader with 226 and counting. Â
PIONEER REPORT
East Bay has a respectable .206 team attack percentage, but otherwise they rank near the bottom of the conference in most stats, including points, kills, and digs per set.
Suzy Ni Xu is having an excellent season, leading the team with 2.86 kills per set and a .249 hitting percentage. Four other Pioneers are contributing at least two kills per set: Allen (2.20),
Amber Hall (2.12), Offord (2.02), and Bruno (2.00). Setter
Ashia Joseph ranks seventh in the CCAA in assists (9.33 avg), while libero
Veronica Sanchez continues to rank second in dig average (5.12).Â
WATCHING THE WILDCATS
Chico State has gone just 3-5 since beating the Pioneers on Sept. 21, but they did beat Humboldt State on the road last Saturday. The Wildcats are third in the CCAA in digs and have three players averaging more than three per set. Chico also has three of the top attackers in the conference in Alex Schurtz (3.90 kills/set), Ellie Larronde (3.84 kills/set), and Lindsay Quigley (3.10 kills/set, .362 pct). Torrey Thompson leads the CCAA in assists (11.22 avg).
SCOUTING STANISLAUS
The Pioneers picked up a 3-0 win earlier in the season over the Warriors, who are the lowest-scoring team in the conference, but rank second in digs. They're 1-7 in their past eight matches heading into the weekend. Blair Ehrlich (3.20 kill/set), Jocelynn Cervantes (2.60 kills/set), and Paige Walker (2.46 kills/set)Â are Stanislaus' top attackers. Libero Sarah Crowl leads the CCAA with a 5.57 dig average.Â
CCAA STANDINGSÂ
|
Rank |
  School |
CCAA Record |
Pct. Â Â Â Â Â Â |
Overall Record |
|
1. |
#12 Cal State San Bernardino |
11-0 |
1.000 |
15-4 |
|
2. |
#14 Sonoma State |
9-2 |
.818 |
16-3 |
|
3. |
#13 UC San Diego |
8-3 |
.727 Â Â Â Â Â |
16-3 |
|
4. |
Cal State L.A. |
7-4 |
.636 |
12-7 |
|
5. |
Cal State Monterey Bay |
6-5 |
.545 |
12-7 |
|
6. |
Chico State |
6-5 |
.545 |
9-9 |
|
7. |
Cal Poly Pomona |
6-6 |
.500 |
8-2 |
|
8. |
San Francisco State |
4-7 |
.364 |
9-10 |
|
9. |
Humboldt State |
4-8 |
.333 |
9-10 |
|
10. |
Cal State East Bay |
3-8 |
.273 |
7-12 |
|
11. |
Cal State Stanislaus |
2-9 |
.182 |
5-14 |
|
12. |
Cal State Dominguez Hills |
1-10 |
.091 |
8-11 |
