HAYWARD — Cal State East Bay delivered a commanding performance Friday night at Pioneer Gymnasium, sweeping Chico State 25-19, 25-23, 25-22 to extend its strong CCAA run and improve to 11-8 overall and 8-3 in conference play.
 
The Pioneers were firing on all cylinders offensively, defensively and from the service line, finishing with a .185 team hitting percentage while holding the Wildcats to just .089.
 
Jada Stone led the charge with a match-high 11 kills on a .409 hitting percentage while Barakat Adekola added 9 kills and Malayah Adams tacked on 8 kills.  Setter Pi'ilani Carvalho ran a masterful offense, dishing out 32 assists while also delivering three service aces and adding two block assists.
 
Defensively, East Bay was relentless with Kale'a Kuamo'o recording a match-high 25 digs, anchoring a Pioneer defense that racked up 64 total digs.
 
Cal State East Bay came out firing in the opening frame, using a fast start to seize early momentum. The Pioneers caught fire behind Adams, who strung together multiple kills to fuel an 8-3 surge. Chico State closed the gap to 8-7, but East Bay responded to rebuild a comfortable cushion at 17-13. The Pioneers capitalized on Wildcat attack errors and a service ace from Gianna Navarro to push ahead 21-15. Adams and Fane Paua delivered late kills, and Adekola sealed the set at 25-19 with the final kill.
 
The Pioneers opened the second set with a service ace from Carvalho and surged to a 5-1 lead behind a block from Adams and Herrera and a kill from Adams. Chico State clawed back to tie the frame at 11-11, but the Pioneers responded with key kills from Adekola and Stone to regain the lead.  With the set even at 23-23, CSUEB capitalized on a Chico attack error before Adekola put away the final kill, securing the 25-23 win and a 2-0 match lead.
 
In the final frame, Chico State led 4-1 before East Bay responded with kills from Stone and a Carvalho ace to go up 10-8. The Pioneers held a narrow lead behind key swings from Adams, Brooklynne Traficante, and Stone. With the score at 23-22, a block by Makaiya Gerhardt and Herrera, followed by kills from Stone and Gerhardt, closed out the 25-22 set and completed the sweep.
 
Cal State East Bay returns to action tomorrow night when they head to San Francisco State for another key CCAA contest.