SAN FRANCISCO – Sophomore
Robyn Hall (Hayward, Calif., Bishop O'Dowd HS, Univ. of Portland) came off the bench to blast a season-high 11 kills, sparking the San Francisco State women's volleyball team to a three-set sweep of Cal State Dominguez Hills (25-11, 27-25, 25-10) in a California Collegiate Athletic Association match Saturday night at the Main Gymnasium.
The win gives the Gators (18-8, 11-7 CCAA) their highest single-season victory total since a 19-11 finish in 1996, while the Toros (1-24, 1-17 CCAA) dropped their 15th in a row.
In addition to Hall's effort, SF State received a match-high 38 assists from freshman Iris
Iris Tolenada (Antioch, Calif., Deer Valley HS) who also chipped in 11 digs for her 18
th double-double of the 2009 campaign. With her assist total, Tolenada has 1,078 helpers for the year, which now ranks third on the Gators' single-season charts. Sophomores
Kyle Lamet (Benicia, Calif., Carondelet HS) (.385, seven kills) and
Halimah Oswald (San Francisco, Calif., Waldorf HS) (.375, nine kills) also posted solid offensive numbers, while junior
Vanessa Shaw (Santa Barbara, Calif., Dos Pueblos HS, Santa Barbara CC) anchored the SF State defense with 19 digs.
CSUDH was paced by Madison Horsley's 11 kills, while Hilary Hougardy registered a match-best 20 digs.
The Gators dominated the opening set, outhitting the Toros .412-.062, as senior
Beth Perkins (Woodland, Calif., Woodland Christian HS, Mt. Hood CC) totaled five kills during the frame. With SF State in front 9-5, Hall entered the contest and promptly knocked down four kills of her own, highlighting a 12-4 blitz that gave the home team a commanding 21-9 lead.
CSUDH fought itself off the ropes in early stages of set number two, as three Horsley kills keyed a 12-4 Toro run, putting the visitors up by a 13-7 count. Undaunted, the Gators began to whittle away at the deficit, pulling to within 22-21 on another Hall kill. Moments later, CSUDH was poised capture the set after benefitting from a pair of SF State attack errors. However, the Gators were given new life when Tolenada and Oswald combined for a huge block. Shortly thereafter, freshman
Lauren Walsh (Coto de Caza, Calif., Tesoro HS) pounded out a kill, while the Toros committed an attack error, which knotted the score at 24-24. The Gator momentum was briefly interrupted by an attack error, but Walsh quickly followed with another kill, while the Toros chalked up two additional miscues on their side of the ball, allowing SF State to escape.
The Gators were all business in the third stanza, racing to a 13-3 lead and never looking back. Hall posted five kills during the set, including four during an 8-2 stretch that gave the host team a comfortable 21-5 cushion.
SF State returns to the court next weekend when it closes out the home portion of its 2009 schedule against No. 2 UC San Diego (Nov. 6) and Cal State East Bay (Nov. 7) on consecutive nights. Both matches are set to begin at 7 p.m.
Box Score
