BELMONT, Calif. – The San Francisco State women's volleyball team split a Friday twin billing at Walter Gleason Gymnasium site of the Route 92 Showdown. The Gators opened up the afternoon defeating host Notre Dame de Namur 3-2 before falling to Biola 3-1 in the finale.
"Really happy with the first two days," said head coach
Matt Hoffman. "Before this weekend, if you had told me we would be 2-1 with those three opponents I would have taken it. And now we are. All three teams we played were good and we battled. Really proud of our fight today. It was a lot of volleyball in a short period of time and they continued to fight all the way through the day. Now we just need to recover and get ready for tomorrow. Really excited for how this season has started."
Against NDNU, SF State (2-1) displayed one of the most balanced attacks the program has had in years. Four Gators finished in double figures in kills, with a fifth player tallying nine. The last time SF State had four players with 10 or more kills was back in the 2013 season.
The thrilling back and forth match between the Gators and the Argonauts was decided in the fifth and final set, when SF State came out hot and took the frame 15-10. The Gators hit .223 on the match, recording a season-best 64 kills.
Leading the team on the attack was freshman
Brenna Dougherty who threw down 17 kills. She also tallied 15 digs for her first career double-double. She was one of three players from SF State to tally a double-double.
Joining her in that achievement was fellow freshman
Drew Morris. Morris finished the match with 15 kills and 20 digs.
Lauren Williams and
Christine Johnson also tallied 10 kills apiece, while
Bailey Johnson finished the math with nine kills.
Eden Fukushima recorded 52 assists against the Argonauts, while picking up 13 digs.
Jocelyn Rodriguez recoded a team-high 22 digs in the opener.
In the nightcap, SF State appeared to be following the same script as the first match. Losing the opening frame to Biola and taking the second, with both teams needing extra time to put their opponent away. From the third set on the match belonged the PacWest foe, who took the third and fourth frames to take the match 3-1.
Morris led the Gators once again, tallying her third-straight double-double. She finished the match with 19 kills and 13 digs. C. Johnson finished second on the Gators with nine kills. Fukushima and freshman
Cassandra Fong split the setting duties. Fukushima tallied 22 assists, while Fong added 21.
The Gators will return to action tomorrow afternoon when they wrap up the Route 92 Showdown in Rohnert Park, Calif., taking on Holy Names at noon.
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