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LAIE, Hawai'i--- The 20th ranked Grand Canyon University Antelopes (24-5) rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat the SF State Gators in five sets (25-20, 16-25, 18-25, 25-23, 15-6) this afternoon in the First Round of the NCAA Division II West Regionals on the campus of Brigham Young-Hawaii in Laie, Hawaii. SF State finished its season with a 21-9 overall record, the 21 wins ties for second most in Gator volleyball history.
Three Gators recorded double-doubles in SF State's loss to the Antelopes, who now will face No. 22 Cal State San Bernardino in the Regional semi-finals tomorrow evening at 5pm HST, in Iris Tolenada, Megan Johnson and Katie Judd.
Tolenada recorded her 17th double-double with 56 assists and 16 digs. The 2012 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Most Valuable Player finished her career as SF State's all-time leader with 4,674 assists and 1,275 digs.
Johnson had her 11th double-double with 24 kills and 12 digs. The 2012 All-CCAA Second Team selection's 24 kills tied her career high.as she posted a .271 hitting percentage.
Judd recorded a career high 19 kills as she also had 11 digs and two of the Gators' seven service aces.
Grand Canyon used a blocking attack to key its five-set win over the Gators posting 21 total blocks led by Kristen Johannsen (13 total blocks) and Sydney McDowell (10 total blocks). The Antelopes also had only one service error compared to SF State's 12.
SF State held its opponents to a .128 hitting percentage, the 22nd time that a Gator opponent hit below .200 for the match.
The Antelopes scored the first four points of the match in set one which was started by back to back kills by Kaitlynn Ausmus. A hitting error by the Antelopes stopped the rally to give the Gators their first point of the set.
Grand Canyon increased its lead to 13-4 on Shelby Taylor kill, but the Gators scored 11 of the next 17 points to cut the deficit to 19-15 capped by back to back kills by Jaclyn Clark.
After a Grand Canyon time out, SF State cut the Antelope lead to 20-17 on a double block by Meagan Wright and Megan Johnson. The Antelopes finished the set scoring five of the final eight points as Johannsen's kill sealed the first set win for Grand Canyon.
It was a different story in set two as the Gators took a 7-3 early lead on Judd's service ace. A hitting error by Grand Canyon increased the Gators' lead to 20-12 as SF State went for a 25-16 set two win. For the last five Gator points, Clark recorded two of them by kills.
SF State continued its momentum in set three as they started off with a 9-3 lead keyed by two service aces by Clark.
Grand Canyon cut the Gator lead to 9-5 on an Ausmus kill, but SF State took a 14-9 lead which was helped by an Antelope hitting error.
The Antelopes decreased the deficit to just 16-15 as Taylor recorded back to back kills, but the Gators took advantage of three Grand Canyon errors to increase their lead to 19-15 before an Antelope time out.
After the time out, the Gators scored three of the next four points including one by a Judd kill to take a 22-16 lead. A kill by Kristen Preach cut the Antelope deficit to 22-17, but the Gators scored three of the final four points in the set to take the 25-18 set three victory.
The fourth set went back and forth until the Antelopes took a 12-11 lead, a lead they would not relinquish.
A hitting error by the Gators gave Grand Canyon its largest lead of the set, 22-18. On the next three serves, three consecutive kills by the Gators (two by Johnson and one by Kelly Ostello) cut deficit to just 23-22. Grand Canyon finished the set scoring two of the final three points of the set including two by Caelen Hiller to tie the match at two sets apiece.
Grand Canyon took a commanding 9-2 lead in the fifth set which was helped by four errors by the Gators.
SF State would not go away as the Gators cut the Antelope lead to 10-6, but Grand Canon scored five consecutive points to take the set 15-6 and the match 3-2 to advance to the next round in the NCAA West Regionals.
As a team, the Gators had a .135 hitting percentage with 67 kills while recording seven service aces (four by Jaclyn Clark).
This was the Gators' second appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the last four years and third in school history. SF State also had a 16-6 CCAA record, which tied the Gators for second place. This was the highest ever finish for the Gators in the CCAA. This evening also saw the career of four Gators come to an end in Iris Tolenada, Megan Johnson, Kelsie Brennan and Sammie Battles.
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