SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco State women's volleyball team registered its fourth consecutive victory Thursday evening, knocking off Hawaii Pacific in four sets (25-20, 21-25, 28-26, 25-16) in the opening match of the 2009 California Clash Tournament at the Main Gymnasium. With the win, the Gators raise their record to 4-1 on the year, while the Sea Warriors drop to 2-2.
“Hawaii Pacific is a solid team in our region,” said SF State head coach Michelle Patton. “So this was a great win for our team. Lauren Walsh (Coto de Caza, Calif., Tesoro HS) stepped up for us in the third game and had a great match. We passed the ball well tonight and Iris Tolenada (Antioch, Calif., Deer Valley HS) did a nice job keeping us in system.”
Despite playing in just the final two sets, Walsh, a freshman outside hitter, put on brilliant hitting display, posting a .524 attack percentage on 13 kills and 21 attempts with only two errors. Fellow classmate Tolenada, meanwhile, reached double figures in two categories, posting a team-high 45 assists to go along with 11 digs.
The Gators also got contributions from senior
Beth Perkins (Woodland, Calif., Woodland Christian HS, Mt. Hood CC) and sophomore
Halimah Oswald (San Francisco, Calif., Waldorf HS), who knocked down 16 and 10 kills respectively. Perkins' kill total led all players, as she finished with her fourth straight double-double after adding 10 digs on the evening.
As a team, SF State outhit owned a .219-.164 advantage in hitting percentage.
The first three sets were closely contested as the two sides combined for 22 ties and nine lead changes. In the opening frame, the Gators received three consecutive kills from Oswald to break a 19-19 deadlock and never looked back.
SF State jumped out to a 6-4 advantage in the second stanza, but soon found themselves on the wrong side of a 16-12 score after a 12-6 Sea Warrior flurry. The Gators regrouped at this juncture, as a service error and a kill by sophomore
Kyle Lamet knotted the score at 17-17. However, the host team was unable to gain the upper hand, as HPU closed out the set with an 8-4 run.
Both teams fought tooth-and-nail once again in the third frame, which witnessed nine ties and two lead changes. SF State benefited from a pair of HPU miscues after it was unable to capitalize on two previous set points. With the score tied at 26-26, HPU faltered with a service error and attack error, allowing the Gators to escape with the set.
The evenness of the match became skewed midway through the fourth stanza, as SF State broke open a tight 10-9 ballgame with a 15-7 blitz, capturing the set going away.
The Gators resume play at the California Clash on Friday with a single match against Dominican University in the Main Gymnasium beginning at 7 p.m.
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