Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Photos from the Route 92 Showdown will be available for purchase at KLCfotos.com/CSUEB

HAYWARD, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay volleyball team dropped both of its matches on the first day of the third annual Route 92 Showdown. The Pioneers opened Friday's action with a heartbreaking five-set loss to California Baptist, 25-19, 17-25, 18-25, 25-18, 18-20. Just a few hours later, they played three exremely tight sets against Academy of Art, but came up short by a score of 25-23 in all three as the Urban Knights earned the sweep.

East Bay has opened the season with a 1-2 record, and by the end of tomorrow, they will have played five matches in less than 60 hours. Despite a pair of tough losses, the tournament nonethless provides a tough mental and physical challenge that may help prepare this young Pioneer squad for a difficult CCAA schedule.

"I was proud of the way our kids fought back to put themselves in a position to win the first match," said head coach Jim Spagle. "Unforunately we let that opportunity slip away with some unforced errors. This team has terrific potential, but but they will need to come together as a team in order to win close matches like those. I'm hoping to see a bit more fire offensively tomorrow."

The Pioneers host Holy Names Saturday morning at 11:30 a.m. as they look to pick up their first win as the Route 92 Showdown's defending champions. They'll close out the tournament with a non-conference match against San Francisco State, slated for 7 p.m.

Match #1: CBU 3, CSUEB 2

The opening match was quite a back-and-forth affair as the teams traded momentum numerous times. The Pioneers hit .310 as a group to capture the first set, but the Lancers bounced right back to even the match. CBU posted a .351 attack percentage in the second frame, and setter Jordan Carter assisted on 16 of the team's 17 kills.
 
Following the intermission, the Pioneers struggled offensively in the third set. They totaled 10 kills and eight attack errors in the frame, allowing Cal Baptist to pull back ahead two games to one.
 
East Bay rallied in the fourth set, however, stepping up their defense to extend the match. Trailing 13-6, the Pioneers rattled off seven straight points to tie it up. Then with the score 16-16, CSUEB managed another 7-0 run to pull away for the 25-18 victory.
 
The fifth set was befitting of such an evenly-matched contest. The Pioneers jumped out to an 8-3 lead when the teams switched sides, but the Lancers rallied to force extra points. The teams traded kills back and forth until CBU forced an attack error to pull off the 20-18 win.
 
Samantha Bruno led East Bay in kills for the second straight match, totaling 15 to go along with nine digs. Amber Hall notched her first double-double of the season with 13 kills and 11 digs.
 
Redshirt freshman Jovan Turner also reached double figures in kills. She posted career highs with 11 kills and a team-best four total blocks.
 
Ashia Joseph played several roles for the Pioneers and filled up the scoresheet with six kills, 36 assists, three blocks, and a team-high 20 digs. Freshman setter Veronica Fabiano came off the bench to rack up 14 assists of her own.
 
Liberos Brandi Brucato and Veronica Sanchez tallied 19 and 18 digs, respectively. The team also got contributions from freshmen Micah Hammond (seven kills), Kiani Rayford (six kills), and Marina Aragao (five kills).

Match #2: Academy of Art 3, CSUEB 0

The Pioneers posted their highest team attack percentage of the season in the nightcap, hitting .300 despite the three-set loss. The team each scored 48 kills for the match, but Academy of Art managed a hitting percentage of .324, which game them the narrow edge.

It was extremely close in the first set, and East Bay actually held a 23-20 lead after two kills by Bruno. But the Urban Knights called a timeout, then won five straight points to claim the set. It was even tighter in the second frame -- neither team led by more than three points the entire way, but Academy managed to win the final two. And it was deja vu in the third set, as the teams played to a 23-23 tie before the Urban Knights captured the winning points.

Bruno once again paced the sqaud with 15 kills and a .324 attack percentage. Hall hit .321 with four digs and recorded 13 kills for the second straight match.

Turner had an impressive match, scoring seven kills without an error on eight attempts, to go along with a team-high three total blocks. Megan Johnson saw her most extensive action thus far and turned in a strong performance with six kills and six digs. 

Brucato tallied 19 digs and six assists from the libero position. The Pioneers split their setting duties for the second match of the day, as Joseph tallied 21 assists to go along with nine digs, while Fabiano notched a career-high 19 assists.

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