SAN DIEGO – The Cal State East Bay Volleyball team fell short in both their matches on Saturday to close out the opening weekend of the regular season at the Seaside Classic. Playing in their second straight double header in Southern California, the Pioneers were edged out by Southern Nazarene in the first match and fell to Concordia University (Calif.) in their final match of the tournament.
 
East Bay performed very well in their opening game of the day despite the game starting a 8:30 a.m. After falling in the first set 25-21, the Pioneers bounced back to take the next two sets 25-22 and 25-18. But it was the Crimson Storm who would end up raining on the Pioneers hopes for their first victory of the 2019 season. SNU finished with the best record any team posted at the Seaside Classic.
 
Southern Nazarene out-hit East Bay .255-.241 for the match but the Pioneers found their offensive rhythm to claim a 2-1 lead in the match and push SNU to the brink of defeat. In the final set of the contest SNU took an early 8-5 lead at the change of sides. East Bay put together one last gasp to tie the score at 8-8, but SNU put the match away with a 7-1 run to take the set 15-9 and the match 3-2.
 
Freshman Eliza Cannon set a new career mark with 45 assists in the contest. She compiled 45 on the Pioneers 54 total assists. Cannon added six kills, seven digs and finished with nine points. Fellow freshman Jasmyn Love posted a double double with 13 digs and 12 kills. Love led the Pioneers with 17 points and tallied a .346 hitting percentage. Kara Green, also a freshman, recorded a team high 15 kills to go along with four digs and 15 points.
 
Sarah Stevelinck paced CSUEB with 19 digs and added five assists. Tayler Templeman racked up 12 digs, seven kills and eight total points.
 
The final match of the weekend saw East Bay taking on Concordia (Calif.), a team that finished the Seaside Classic with a 3-1 mark. The Pioneers were not particularly efficient in their fourth match in two days as they were out-hit .308-.175 for the game. East Bay jumped out to an early lead but the Eagles rallied back and pulled away toward the end of the set.
 
The second and third sets were much closer for the Pioneers although East Bay struggled on the attack overall, hitting .175 and totaling just 29 kills for the the contest. Eliza Cannon turned in another strong performance with 21 assists and 10 digs.
 
Steena Hubbard tallied seven kills, four blocks and 10 points. Kara Green added eight points and four digs while Sarah Stevelinck finished with 11 digs and two assists.
 
East Bay will return to the City of Angels for the D2 West Region Volleyball Showcase where they will take on Central Washington, Alaska-Fairbanks, Hawaii Pacific and Azuza Pacific.