LA JOLLA, Calif. – The third time would not be the charm for the SF State women's volleyball team.  The Gators battled hard against Cal Poly Pomona, a familiar foe that SF State has squared off against three times this year.  Today, like the previous two matches, the sides battled hard with the Broncos ultimately prevailing in four sets, 21-25, 25-21, 25-27, 18-25 in the opening round of the CCAA Volleyball Tournament at the Rimac Arena on the UC San Diego campus.
The Gators (14-14) had three players in double-figures in kills and was led by senior outside hitter Jaclyn Clark who recorded a match-high 16 kills in her final match playing for the Gators, Clark also recorded 15 digs for her 14^th double-double of the year. 
Taylor Brownlee finished second on the team in kills and was outstanding after the intermission, where she recorded nine of her 12 kills.  For the match, Brownlee hit .293 with 13 kills on 41 swings with just one attack error.  Chantelle Williams was outstanding as she finished with 11 kills hitting .318.  Five of Williams' 11 kills came in the second set.

Defensively, the Gators played well, holding the Broncos (17-12) to a .216 attack percentage, and finished the day with 78 digs and three total blocks.  Jessica Nicerio recorded 21 digs, while Clark added 15.  Catherine Feathers recorded a double-double with 47 assists and 10 digs.  Arianna Cruz was fantastic recording two service aces and 13 digs. 

In the opening set the Gators attack came out a little sluggish.  SF State hit .087 recording 11 kills on 46 attempts with seven errors.  The Broncos responded hitting .200, tallying 15 kills on 45 swings with six errors.  CPP's Nicolette Stork came out of the gate swinging, she tallied five kills in the opening set on 13 swings.  The Broncos took the lead early and eventually increased it to up, 14-6.

The Gators managed to cut that lead to two, late. Trailing 23-16 SF State scored five-straight points to cut the deficit to two, 23-21.  That was as close as the Gators could get it, as the Broncos rolled off two more quick points on Gator errors to take the opening set 25-21.

In the second set the Gators were on fire and looked like a totally different team.  After coming to life late in the first, SF State carried that into the second frame, hitting a match=high .325 tallying 16 kills on 40 swings with just three errors.  The Broncos on the other hand hit a team-low .186 in the frame.

Williams proved to be a big lift for the Gators, recording five of her 11 kills in the set.  Williams was responsible for the final two points of the set for the Gators, smashing a ball down the line on the far side for set point to give the Gators the frame 25-21.

After the intermission with the match tied at 1-1 the two sides battled to 12 ties and three lead changes.  In both sets the Broncos jumped out to the early lead.  After the break the Gators offense hit .165 tallying 26 kills on 83 swings with 13 errors, a bulk of that coming in the final set when SF State hit into eight attack errors.

In the third frame, after trailing 22-18 late, the Gators went on a furious comeback and eventually tied the se at 24-all following three-straight kills by Brownlee who was deadly in the set.  With the set knotted up at 24 the Broncos burned a timeout, out of the break they went on a 3-1 run to take the set 27-25.

The fourth set started tight, with the Gators and Broncos holding an 8-8 tie following a CPP attack error.  From there the Broncos went on an 11-1 run to take a 19-9 lead.  The 10 point lead proved to be too much for the Gators who cut the deficit to four, 20-16.  An attack error by Clark late sealed the set and the match, as the Broncos took it 25-18.

Playing in their final match in the purple and gold were seniors, Clark, Cruz and Nicerio.  All three have been instrumental in the Gators success.  Clark finished the season with 381 kills, a new career-high, giving her 1,110 career kills which is third all-time at SF State.  She is also fourth all-time in digs with 1,197.

Nicerio broke the SF State career record for digs in her junior year, this season she finished her career with 490 digs, fourth most in a single season.  All four of Nicerio's single season totals currently rank in the top-10 for single season dig totals.

Cruz wraps up her career with 660 digs and 47 service aces, a bulk of that coming in her final two years.  As a junior and senior she tallied 471 digs and 37 aces.  This season Cruz finished with 209 digs and averaged 2.2 digs per set.

Cal Poly Pomona advances to play the winner of No. 8 Chico State and No. 1 Sonoma State. 

Complete Box Score (HTML)

Post Match video courtesy of the CCAA 
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