SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco State women's volleyball team opened CCAA action on Friday night versus No. 16 Cal State San Bernardino. The Gators played well but fell 3-1 (25-22, 25-20, 24-26, 25-15) to the nationally-ranked Coyotes.
In set one, SF State (4-5/0-1 CCAA) stayed within a couple of points of the Coyotes (5-4/0-1 CCAA), who have appeared in 17 straight NCAA tournaments.
Brenna Dougherty's crosscourt kill to open space on the right side capped a minute-long rally that pulled SF State to within a point and an
Emily Johns service aces three plays later tied the set at 12-12. The Gators took a two-point lead late but the Coyotes took the first set with a 6-1 run to end the set.
"I hope tonight is proof to them that they can compete with anyone in the conference," said SF State Head Coach
Matt Hoffman. "When they come to play and they're all on the same page and present. We're young and we're going to keep getting better."
A 7-2 Coyotes run broke an 11-11 tie and forced SF State to call timeout. Another Dougherty kill gave the the next point to the Gators but an SF State attack error on the next play kept the Coyotes lead at five. The Coyotes finished the set on a 5-1 run to take a 2-0 match lead.
SF State started set three on a 5-1 lead thanks to strong service from
Emily Johns, who finished with three service aces, and built it to a 15-10 lead. Cal State San Bernardino threatened late and tied the set at 24 but the Gators held on.
Olivia Tabron recorded a kill and
Vanessa Ditz capped off the set with a perfectly-placed service ace just inside the back line for the 26-24 victory.
The Gators fell behind by five points early in set four and never recovered. The Coyotes adjusted and errors helped CSUSB pull away, 25-15.
Dougherty finished with a team-high 17 kills, which matched a career high for the freshman, and made it a double-double with 11 digs. Fellow freshman
Jocelyn Rodriguez led SF State with 20 digs, followed by 14 from senior
Christine Johnson.
Eden Fukushima dished out 43 assists and is now averaging 9.63 assists per set. As a team, the Gators played strong at the net with a season-high 13 blocks, which is tied for third most in program history.
CSUSB was led by Lauren Nicholson's 19 kills. Alexis Cardoza added 15 and Moira Murphy recorded 12.
SF State has a quick turnaround. The Gators will face Cal Poly Pomona (4-5/0-1 CCAA) on Saturday, Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. Live video and stats will be available at
sfstategators.com. In-game updates will be available on Twitter at
@sfstate_wvb.
