HAYWARD, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay volleyball team makes its first trip to Southern California
of the seasonthis weekend. Coming off a pair of road losses last weekend, the Pioneers will be looking for their first victory away from the Hayward hills when they visit Cal State Dominguez Hills on Friday night and Cal State L.A. on Saturday night.
WEEKLY RECAPEast Bay was swept in three sets by Chico State last Friday, although the match was tightly contested throughout. The Pioneers didn't manage to take any games despite hitting .248 overall and making just 11 total attack errors. Seniors
Amber Hall and
Samantha Bruno provided 12 and 11 kills, respectively, but the team allowed nine service aces in a narrow defeat.
The following night was another evenly-matched contest, as Cal State Stanislaus won the first set 25-23, and then the Pioneers came back to claim the second game by the same score. Unfortunately the Warriors took control after intermission and claimed the final two sets, playing their best overall match of the year with a .252 attack percentage. The Pioneers got strong performances from Bruno (15 kills, .333 pct.) and
Ashia Joseph (28 assists, 12 digs, 9 kills, .421 pct.), but they allowed Stanislus to make a late run in game three and an early run in game four to secure the match.
PIONEER POINTSEast Bay currently ranks fifth in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) with a .209 attack percentage for the season. They're eighth among the 12 teams averaging 15.3 points per set.
Hall is the Pioneers' leading scorer and ranks sixth in the CCAA with 3.44 kills per set. The senior has posted an impressive .240 hitting percentage on a team-high 341 attack and ranks third on the squad with 75 total digs.
Bruno is also enjoying the most prolific offiensive season of her career thus far, averaging 2.83 kills per set, which is 13th-best in the conference.
Joseph has been a jack-of-all-trades for East Bay at the setter position. In addition to averaging 1.28 kills per set with a .345 attack percentage, she ranks third in the CCAA in service aces (0.47 per set) and seventh in assists (8.16 per set). In four conference games, she's third-best among all players with a .420 hitting percentage.
East Bay has six players averaging at least two digs per set, and when they've had succes this year, it has started with strong defense and passing. Defensive specialists
Brandi Brucato (3.37 digs/set),
Veronica Sanchez (2.57 digs/set), and
Angie Maina (2.00 digs/set) have all played crucial roles.
Current CCAA StandingsCCAA Statistical LeadersHISTORY WATCHBruno leads all active Pioneers with 567 career kills, which places her just outside the program's top-10 all-time. And after three total blocks last weekend, she's up to 241 career blocks, second-most in school history and just six away from the program record.
Joseph currently ranks eighth in program history with 1,331 career assists, and she trails seventh place by just 45.
With 19 scoops over the weekend,
Veronica Sanchez has now recorded 1,159 digs in her East Bay career, which ranks second all-time.
TRACKING THE TOROSCal State Dominguez Hills has lost five straight since beating Fresno Pacific for their only win of the season, and they're still winless in CCAA play. The Toros rank last in the conference in several statistical categories, including attack percentage (.134). Despite their early struggles, CSUDH has one of the CCAA's top attackers in Alijah Gunsaulus (3.76 kills/set, 2.26 digs/set, .305 pct.) and an excellent setter in Dana Brown (9.55 assists/set, 2.14 digs/set). The Pioneers are 6-2 against the Toros since joining the CCAA in 2010, but they've lost their last two matches in Carson.
GUAGING THE GOLDEN EAGLESCal State L.A. is receiving votes in the national top-25 rankings after picking up wins over top-25 teams Sonoma State and UC San Diego. They lost their first conference match last Saturday at Cal Poly Pomona. The Golden Eagles are hitting .209 as a team, the same as East Bay. They rank third in the conference in digs (16.56) and blocks (2.41) and have five players averaging at least 0.5 blocks per set. They're led by one of the CCAA's top attackers on offense, junior Iona Lofrano (3.96 kills/set, 3.30 digs/set). The Pioneers are just 2-6 against CSULA as members of the CCAA, and they have never won in the Eagles Nest.
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