HAYWARD, Calif. — The Cal State East Bay volleyball team opens its California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) schedule this weekend with a pair of home matches against Northern California opponents at Pioneer Gym. On Friday, the Pioneers welcome in Cal State Stanislaus for their conference opener at 7 p.m. The following night, Chico State visits East Bay for a 7 p.m. showdown.

The Warriors and Wildcats already began their CCAA slates when they played each other Wednesday night, a match Chico State won at home in four sets.

ROUTE 92 SHOWDOWN CROWN
The Pioneers turned the tables in a big way after opening the season 0-4 two weeks ago in Oregon. As the co-hosts of the Route 92 Showdown, East Bay looked right at home in Pioneer Gym. The pieces appeared to be coming together for head coach Jim Spagle's squad, which won 12 of the 13 sets they played en route to a 4-0 weekend and the tournament crown.

The Pioneers hit .389 and .357 as a team in their respective three-set wins over Alaska and Azusa Pacific on Friday. The first match featured the best performance of senior Brittany Dominguez's career, as she racked up a team-high 13 kills with three total blocks. The middle blocker made zero attack errors, giving her a .650 hitting percentage. In the nightcap, senior Suzy Ni Xu (13 kills, .393 pct.) and junior Amber Hall (12 kills, .391 pct.) led the way along with junior Ashia Joseph, who posted 43 assists in just three sets.

The team experienced no letdown on the tournament's second day, coming out with a strong victory over Saint Martin's in straight sets. Xu notched 10 kills and hit .409 as the Pioneers topped .300 in attack percentage for the second straight match. CSUEB slipped up for the first and only time in its first set against Seattle Pacific in Saturday's finale, falling 25-20. However, they came back to win the final three sets, capped off by a 17-0 run to open the fourth frame. Junior Katie Allen served 18 straight points for the Pioneers in that set and had a double-double for the match, notching a team-best 12 kills to go with 14 digs. After the match, Spagle called it "one of the single best performances I have had the pleasure of witnessing."

East Bay posted some impressive individual stats for the Route 92 Showdown. Five players averaged better than two kills per set: Hall (3.25 kills, 2.42 digs, .365 pct.), Xu (2.77 kills, .260 pct.), Allen (2.62 kills, 2.46 digs, .272 pct.), Dominguez, (2.30 kills, 9 blocks, .365 pct.), and senior Kitona Offord (2.00 kills, 11 blocks). Joseph totaled 148 assists, good for an impressive average of 11.38 per set. Junior libero Veronica Sanchez had a team-best 6.85 dig average for the weekend.

SCOUTING STANISLAUS
The Warriors went 2-2 last weekend at the Seawolf Spike before dropping Wednesday's conference opener at Chico State in four sets. CSUS is a very young team, with seven freshman getting significant time. Freshman Blair Elrich is the team's leading scorer, averaging 3.44 kills per set and 2.72 digs per set so far, and she posted a double-double with 17 kills and 14 digs against the Wildcats. Freshman Paige Walker (2.50 kills/set, 2.72 digs/set) added 10 kills on Wednesday. Freshman setter Hannah Green leads the way with 9.44 assists average, while freshman libero Sarah Crowl averages 5.81 digs.

ABOUT CHICO STATE
The Wildcats have played a pair of team ranked in the nation's top-12 so far and also posted a 2-2 record at last weekend's Seawolf Spike before beating Stanislaus. Senior Alex Shurtz, a 2012 All-CCAA honoree, paces the team with 4.20 kills per set. Juniors Ellie Larronde (4.17 kills/set) and Lindsay Quigley (3.07 kills/set) were the to two scorers against the Warriors with 17 and 16 kills, respectively. Setter Torey Thompson leads the Wildcats with 11.17 assists per set, which is the second-best average in the conference.


Photos of Pioneer volleyball are available at KLCfotos.com