HAYWARD, Calif. — The Pioneer volleyball team will play its first home matches of the season this weekend as Cal State East Bay plays co-host of the second annual Route 92 Showdown. The tournament features 12 teams playing 24 matches over two days, with East Bay hosting half of them in Hayward and Notre Dame de Namur hosting the other half across the bridge in Belmont, Calif.

Still in search of their first win of 2013, the Pioneers (0-4) play a pair of doubleheaders at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. The team will take on Alaska (Fairbanks) and Academy of Art on Friday, followed by Saint Martin's and Seattle Pacific on Saturday.

Follow all the weekend's action at the Route 92 Showdown homepage. 

WEEKEND RECAP
The Pioneers stumbled out of the gate with four tough defeats last weekend at the Western Oregon Invitational. They fell to No. 17 Western Washington in straight sets in the season opener, despite running the first set all the way to 34-32. East Bay grabbed the first game against the tournament hosts in the nightcap, but eventually lost in four sets.

The first match of day two was a heartbreaking defeat for the Pioneers , who once again won the first set. Metro State then edged out the Pioneers in two straight, before CSUEB rallied to dominate the fourth set. Metro State pulled away to win 15-8 in the deciding game, edging out East Bay in a match that featured 31 service errors. The Pioneers dropped the final match of the tournament in three sets to Minnesota State (Mankato), which hit .341 as a team and .517 in the third set.

Despite the early-season struggles, several Pioneers performed well on the trip. Senior right-side hitter Suzy Ni Xu led the team with 44 kills (2.93 avg), a .320 hitting percentage, and seven aces. Senior middle blocker Kitona Offord hit .304 with 29 kills (1.93 avg) and five total blocks. Fellow senior Brittany Dominguez added 21 kills (1.50 avg) and a team-best eight total blocks from the middle position.

Newcomer Ashia Joseph, a junior, paced the Pioneers with 97 assists for the weekend (6.93 avg) serving at the primary setter. She also tallied 26 digs. Junior libero Veronica Sanchez notched 43 digs (3.04) per set, tops on the team. Sophomore Angie Maina added 27 digs, playing in 13 of the 15 total sets.

Senior Hannah Bell totaled 17 kills and 29 digs (2.64 avg) and turned in the team's first double-double of the year with 10 kills and 10 digs against Metro State. The silver lining of last weekend is the team played against top-quality competition, which may help prepare them for an extremely talented field at the Route 92 Showdown and a typically demanding CCAA schedule.

LOOKING FOR A REPEAT
Last year at the first Route 92 Showdown, the Pioneers posted a 3-1 record, including wins over Holy Names, Academy of Art, and Cal Baptist. Xu led the way with 48 total kills, earning her a spot on the All-Tournament team. With a chance to compete at Pioneer Gym for the first time, East Bay will look to get on the winning path in the final tune-up before conference play.

ABOUT ALASKA
The Nanooks are off to an 0-7 start to the season under first-year head coach Mallory Larrenaga, although the team has played two teams ranked in the nation's top-12 (No. 5 BYU-Hawaii and No. 12 Fresno Pacific). They dropped four matches on the islands of Hawaii before going 0-3 last weekend at their own Nanook Classic. Sophomore outside hitter Sam Harthun leads the team with 3.38 kills per set, while freshman setter Katelyn Camp has posted 7.42 assists per set.

ABOUT AZUSA PACIFIC
The Courgars went 3-1 last weekend in San Diego, including three-set wins over Cal State Stanislaus and Montana State (Billings). The team is coming off a 22-10 record in 2012, a season in which they reached the NCCAA West Region Finals. APU is a high-scoring team, with six players averaging over 2.0 kills per set and two setters averaging better than 6.5 assists per set. Some of their top weapons include sophomore Christy Cain (3.00 kills/set, .477 hitting percentage), junior Alicia Utke (2.87 kills/set, 3.80 digs/set), sophomore Joy Reinke (2.36 k/set, 3.50 digs/set), and senior Lauren Edwards (2.45 kills/set, 1.18 blocks/set). 

SCOUTING SAINT MARTIN'S
SMU has started the season 1-4, including a 1-3 showing at the Otter Classic in Seaside, Calif. Their lone victory was a four-set win over Academy of Art. Junior Kristyn Ross leads the team averaging 3.75 kills per set, while sophomore Kyla Davidson has posted 2.35 kills per set and a 1.05 block average. Setter Cymbree Decosta is averaging 8.10 assists per set, and libero Halee Hernandez has racked up a 5.15 dig average.

SCOUTING SEATTLE PACIFIC
The Falcons went 2-2 to start the season against four CCAA opponents last weekend at the Coyote Classic. They beat Cal Poly Pomona and the hosts Cal State San Bernardino and fell to Cal State L.A. and UCSD. Madi Cavell (3.38 kills/set, 2.00 digs/set), Ellie Britt (3.00 kills/set), and Nikki Lowell (2.00 kills/set, 1.62 blocks/set) are the top attackers for SPU.

Photos of Pioneer events are available at KLCfotos.com.