IRVINE, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay volleyball team won nine straight sets at the 2018 D2 West Region Crossover tournament before finally falling in its final match of the weekend. The Pioneers defeated Alaska Anchorage in straight sets Saturday morning, then lost to Central Washington in four in the evening to finish the two-day event with a 3-1 record.

CSUEB is now 4-4 for the season with their non-conference schedule completed. Next week, the squad will return home and spend the rest of the regular season battling California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) opponents.

The Pioneers were extremely impressive in the first contest of the day despite an early start time, posting a .402 team hitting percentage and handing Alaska Anchorage its only loss of the season so far.

They caught the Seawolves sleeping a bit in the opening set (which started just after 8:30 in the morning), holding UAA to just eight kills and an .087 hitting percentage in a 10-point victory. The next two sets didn't feature quite as large a margin of victory, but East Bay nonetheless cruised to the sweep. For the match, they totaled 43 kills in the three frames with just eight attack errors.

Deja Thompson shined in the win, tallying 11 kills without an error for a .611 hitting percentage. She also had two aces and a pair of blocks. Kiki Leuteneker and Kathy McKiernan were also extremely efficient, as the former hit .526 will 11 kills, while the latter hit .571 with eight kills. 

Natahlee Wilson scooped out a match-high 15 digs against Alaska Anchorage, and Katie Ireland totaled 38 assists.

The tournament finale pitted the Pioneers against their toughest opponent of the tournament, as CWU presented a formidable offensive attack. The Wildcats topped the .400 hitting mark in two of the four sets and out-hit the Pioneers .291 to .216 for the contest.

Each of the first three sets were tight, however. Central Washington led most of the way in the opener and hung on as the Pioneers weren't able to string enough points together for a rally. But East Bay returned the favor in game two, holding off a late comeback for a tight three-point win.

The Pioneers had a chance to seize the momentum in the next set after winning four straight points to take a late 20-17 lead. But the Wildcats answered back with five straight of their own to re-take the advantage before hanging on for a narrow win.

The final set was not particularly competitive as CWU held the Pioneers to a .103 attack percentage to close out the victory and the weekend.

CSUEB nonetheless had some solid stats in the contest. Tiana Weeks had perhaps the best match of her young career, leading the Pioneers with 11 kills and making zero errors on 18 attempts for a .611 hitting percentage. 

Thompson and Lindsey Ray added nine kills each, as Ray led the way with 14 digs and Thompson paced the squad with three blocks. With 14 total blocks for the tournament, Thompson now has 256 for her career, which is just one short of matching Samantha Bruno's school record. The two seniors were also selected to the All-Tournament Team, recognizing the top eight players from the six teams at Pod B. 

McKiernan hit .385 with six kills in the loss, while Ireland notched 42 assists. The senior currently ranks third among CCAA setters averaging 11.31 assists per set, and she now has 2,165 for her career, which ranks fourth in school history.

Leuteneker added seven kills, which means she will head into the CCAA opener with 999 for her career, putting her on the cusp of becoming just the third Pioneer ever to reach 1,000 kills.

That will have to wait for next week when CSUEB welcomes in Cal State LA on Friday and Cal State Dominguez Hills on Saturday for the first two home matches of the season.