HAYWARD, Calif. – It was Senior Night on Saturday, as the Cal State East Bay women's volleyball team honored Tiana Weeks prior to the regular season finale. Inside Pioneer Gymnasium, Cal State East Bay dropped the first two sets to Cal Poly Humboldt, but came back with three unanswered set wins to take the match, 3-2 (22-25, 23-25, 25-17, 25-21, 15-2).
 

MATCH SUMMARY

 
Although Cal State East Bay led in certain moments in the opening set, the Lumberjacks pulled away late for a 25-22 opening set win.
 
The Pioneers led 21-15 in the second set, but Humboldt finished the set on a 10-2 run and went ahead 2-0 in sets with a 25-23 win.
 
As the situation did not appear favorable for the Pioneers early in set three, trailing 9-6, Cal State East Bay responded and took control for much of the remainder of the set. A kill from Kara Green prolonged the match, forcing a fourth set.
 
While the fourth set was close for its majority, the Pioneers never trailed in the set. Cal State East Bay forced a fifth set by winning the fourth, 25-21.
 
Set five was all in favor of the Pioneers. Cal Poly Humboldt was limited to only two points, both of which were from unforced errors. Lexi Pagani capped off the comeback with a kill at match point, as the Pioneers won the deciding set, 15-2 for a 3-2 match victory.
 

NOTABLE STATS

 

• Green and Pagani had 19 kills each in the win. For Green, it was a season-high in kills and for Pagani, she matched a season-high. Green had a .515 attack percentage.
• Green and Pagani also reached a double double. Green had 18 digs and Pagani had 17.
• Of the 8.0 blocks recorded for the Pioneers, Mia Jordan had five block assists.
• With a season-high 27 assists was Julianne Tan.
• Taylor Miche's 25 digs was a career-high and led the Pioneers in the category on Saturday.
• The Pioneers reached 20 wins during the 2022 season, which is the most for the program since 2010 and most in a season with Kimberly Lambert serving as head coach.

 

POSTGAME QUOTES

 
Lambert added her thoughts about the career for Weeks and Saturday's game environment:
"Special night to honor our senior, Tiana Weeks. She has been such a positive influence for the program and we had a great crowd environment of student athletes in the stands."
 
Lambert also added her thoughts about the Pioneers' comeback:
 
"Tough comeback for our team. We faced [Cal Poly Humboldt] for the first CCAA match of the season and then again for the last CCAA match and both times were down 0-2 to come back and win. We could not have done it without the determination of the group to make some key changes to see the results we were looking for. Kara Green had a big night and made sure we did not leave the gym without the win. Ali Santoyo and Taylor Miche added critical defensive plays for us to get the ball to the hitters offensively. If Karis Carter got the ball, she made sure that thing hit the ground, hard. Lots of poise from Lexi Pagani and [Alexandria Gloria] to get us the runs we needed. Megan [Crecelius] and [Julianne Tan] kept the hitters going and really did a nice job balancing the offense. Great comeback by the group."
 

FINAL REGULAR SEASON RECORDS

 
Cal State East Bay: 20-6, 13-5 CCAA
Cal Poly Humboldt: 2-19, 1-17 CCAA
 

UP NEXT FOR CAL STATE EAST BAY

 
Cal State East Bay has qualified for the CCAA Tournament, and with the victory, will be the No. 4 seed. On Thursday, November 10, the Pioneers will play fifth-seeded Sonoma State in the opening round. Thursday's matchup, along with all of the upcoming CCAA Tournament contests, take place at The Sports Center in San Marcos. Opening serve between the Pioneers and Seawolves is set for 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. During the regular season, Cal State East Bay defeated Sonoma State in both matchups, 3-1.