San Francisco – Trailing two sets to none with the backing of a roaring crowd, the SF State women's volleyball team pulled off an epic comeback to win Tuesday night's match against first place Sonoma State in five sets, winning 18-25, 15-25, 25-22, 25-15, 15-10.

The evening kicked off with a pre-match ceremony where the Gator faithful said goodbye to three exceptional student athletes.  Playing their final home match was setter Jacquie Brice, outside hitter Melissa Horton and middle blocker Jazmine Williams.

The Gators (13-12/11-9 CCAA) are currently riding an impressive hot streak, they have won three in a row and five-straight at home.  SF State has improved to 5-1 when the match goes the distance and four-straight dating back to the thrilling five set win over then No. 7 Cal State San Bernardino.

The Gators hit .243 as a team with three players tallying double-digits in kills.  Jaclyn Clark recorded 14 kills on the night with Bria Morgan adding 13.  Williams was tremendous through the match, recording 12 kills, a rare ace, six digs and two total blocks.

Kaileen Mejia and Christine Johnson also provided a huge lift off the bench.  Mejia recorded nine kills on 19 swings for an impressive .421 attack percentage.  Eight of her kills came in the crucial third and fourth set.  Johnson blasted a career-high seven kills on 24 swings with two digs and two assists.

The Gators senior setter was as good as she has been all year, recording yet another double-double with a match-high 49 assists and a career-high 26 digs.  She also added four timely kills.
 
As a team, the Gators defense held the Seawolves (18-6/16-4 CCAA) to a .249 attack percentage.  SF State finished the night recording 85 digs with four players tallying double-digit digs.  The back row of Jessica Nicerio, Arianna Cruz and Krista Forte were outstanding.  Nicerio led the trio with 18 digs as well as an ace, while Cruz followed that up with 14 digs and two service aces.  Forte finished the night with 10 digs and two assists.

The Seawolves looked like they would make quick work of the Gators after the opening sets.  The Gators battled to keep it close in the first set but ultimately the Seawolves came out hot, hitting .371 in the first set and .250 in the second, recording 29 kills with just seven errors.  Sonoma State took the first set 25-18 and ran away with the second, winning 25-15.

Coming out of the break the Gators looked like a much different team.  On the attack the SF State was much crisper, hitting .250 in the third set after hitting .189 in the first and .061 in the second.  The turning point in the match came with the third set tied at 13-13, when Morgan broke the tie for good smashing an overpass for the easy kill. The Gators went on an 11-9 to take the third set 25-22. 

The fourth set belonged to SF State.  With the Gators holding a one point lead, 11-10, following a Seawolves kills, the Gators went on a 9-3 run to take the 20-13 advantage, their largest lead of the night.  Morgan closed the door and forced the fifth set with an emphatic kill down the line to take the set 25-15.

In the fifth and final set the two sides traded service errors to begin the frame.  The Gators settled down to take a 4-2 advantage, but the Seawolves quickly tied it up.  From there the Gators went on a 4-1 run to take an 8-5 lead at the turn.  With the score 12-10 in the fifth a kill by Johnson, an ace by Williams and a kill by Brice sealed the day for the Gators who clinch at worst a .500 record in the CCAA.

The Gators return to action on Friday night, taking on Cal State Stanislaus in Turlock.  The match is slated for a 7:00 p.m. first serve.   

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