HAYWARD, Calif. -- With just two weeks remaining in the 2017 volleyball regular season, Cal State East Bay embarks on its final set of road matches tonight and tomorrow, as the Pioneers continue their quest towards a second consecutive California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Tournament berth.

CSUEB takes on a pair of North Division rivals this weekend, visiting SF State on Friday evening before heading up to Rohnert Park for a showdown with first-place Sonoma State. Both matches are set for 7:00 p.m.

WEEK IN REVIEW
The Pioneers showcased their their ability to compete with the top teams in the conference yet again this past weekend, splitting their final Southern California road trip. After falling in four sets to a hot Cal State San Marcos team on Friday, the Pioneers bounced back with a huge five-set win over first-place UC San Diego on Saturday. East Bay trailed 2-1 in that contest, but rallied back to spoil the Tritons' Senior Night and secure a crucial CCAA win.

The Pioneers are now 14-9 for the season, surpassing last year's win total with four regular season matches yet remaining. Their mark of 7-7 in the CCAA puts them in third place in the North Division, just a half-game behind Chico State (8-7). With four postseason spots up for grabs from each division, the Pioneers are somewhat fortunate to be in the North where only three teams have records of .500 or better. Currently CSUEB is in fairly strong position two games ahead of fourth-place Cal State Monterey Bay with the tie-breaker over the Otters thanks to two head-to-head victories. 

Click here to view the complete CCAA Standings. 

MAKING HISTORY
With so many veterans on this squads, we continue to see several Pioneers move up the program's all-time leaderboards as we enter the final weeks. The lone senior on the team, Brandi Brucato, is having another strong season in her second as CSUEB's starting libero. She ranks seventh in the CCAA in digs per set (4.25), and she enters this weekend with exactly 1,300 career digs, the second-most in school history.

Junior Kiki Leuteneker leads the team averaging 2.73 kills per set and has now accumulated 849 for her career. That ranks the Hawaii native fourth all-time, and will likely put her within striking distance of Jackie Randolph's program record next season.

Fellow junior Deja Thompson has been outstanding this season, ranking as the seventh-leading scorer in the CCAA while posting a .257 hitting percentage. She recently moved up to ninth place on the program's kill rankings with 718 for her career. Thompson's partner in the middle, Kathy McKiernan has had a breakout season, averaging .207 kills per set with the fifth-highest hitting percentage in the conference (.348). Her career percentage of .281 would rank her fourth all-time. 

During Saturday's win at UCSD, Thompson had a season-high seven total blocks and McKiernan added three. On the same night, the two juniors became the fifth and sixth Pioneers ever to surpass 200 career blocks. Both players are likely to eclipse Samantha Bruno's current school record as seniors. 

Junior Katie Ireland has handled about two-thirds of the setting duties this season, rotating with freshman Audrey Lamoureux. Ireland ranks ninth among CCAA setters averaging 6.93 assists per set. Her career total is up to 1,602 at East Bay, which ranks eighth in school history.

Click here to view CCAA Statistical Leaders.

ABOUT SF STATE
The Gators are still clinging to playoff hopes despite a 3-11 conference record, as they currently sit just two games behind Cal State Monterey Bay for fourth place in the North. SF has lost three straight and six of their last seven, and is hitting .179 as a team (compared to .203 for CSUEB). Bailey Johnson is the team's leading scorer, hitting .302 with 2.40 kills and 0.68 blocks per set. Jocelyn Rodriguez ranks second among CCAA liberos averaging 4.64 digs per set. The Pioneers defeated the Gators in straight sets when the teams met previously in Hayward the first weekend of October.

SCOUTING SONOMA
It has been an emotional season for the Seawolves as a result of devastating wildfires in the region, but the preseason favorite in the North is in first place nonetheless with a 10-4 conference record. They have hit a rough stretch recently with three straight losses to the same three teams that gave East Bay its last three losses -- Cal State LA, Cal State Dominguez Hills, and Cal State San Marcos. Sonoma leads the CCAA in kills per set and ranks second in hitting percentage (.246). They also lead the league in assists, led by setter Courtney Seda (11.00 assists/set). Cati Wiesner ranks among the conference leaders in kills, while Morgan Annala tops the leaderboard with a .365 attack percentage. East Bay notched perhaps its best win of the season when they played the Seawolves on Oct. 6 in Pioneer Gym, rallying back from a 2-1 deficit and fighting off match point seven times in the fifth set before securing the dramatic victory.