HUMBOLDT, Calif. - For the first time since 2015, the San Francisco State volleyball team is going to the CCAA Conference Championships. The Gators secured their postseason berth following a sweep of host Humboldt State on Saturday night, 30-28, 25-15, 25-22, which is their fourth-straight victory and their tenth sweep of the season.

SF State will open up the CCAA Championships on Thursday, November 8 at 7:30 p.m. against No. 1 Cal State San Bernardino, who is the top seed in the South. 

Notables

• The ten sweeps are the most for the Gators (14-11/10-9 CCAA) since 2012 when they recorded 12.
• Drew Morris had her ninth double-double of the year with 12 kills and ten digs while hitting .500 in the victory. Jessica Haynie added 11 kills and seven digs, while Vanessa Ditz led all players with 17 digs. Payton Jensen also led all players with 38 assists, and added a pair of kills.
• Marlena Billings came up big at the net with five blocks, and Olivia Tabron added four blocks and eight kills, and now has 73 block assists on the year, which is the tenth-most in a season in program history. Bailey Johnson hit .429 in the contest with seven kills.
• SF State outhit the Lumberjacks (3-23/0-18 CCAA) .327-.128, including .448-.125 in the second set.

Set One

Humboldt State came out firing to take an 8-0 lead before Tabron got SF State on the board with a swing from Jensen. The Jacks then pushed their lead to 12-3, and Morris ended the streak with her first kill of the evening, which started a 4-0 run as SF State cut it to five. A block by Haynie and Johnson made it a three-point frame at 13-10, but a Gator attack error regained the Jack serve. Hannah Cantrell put the Jacks up 19-11, but SF State was able to respond with Haynie's first kill of the night followed by a pair of Humboldt attack errors. The rally continued as Tabron and Billings had a big block that cut it to four, and consecutive Tabron swings made it 19-17. Tabron added another swing to the backline and two-straight Humboldt Attack errors gave SF State its first lead of the night at 21-20. Humboldt once again bounced back to tie things up at 28-all, but Haynie added to the scoreboard and Jensen dropped in an ace for the comeback 30-28 set one win. SF State held the Jacks to a .116 hitting percentage in that first frame while hitting .317 themselves in the comeback.

Set Two

Billings got the second set started with her second kill of the contest. Johnson, Morris and Tabron all added swings as the Gators now lead 8-4 in the early going, and the Purple and Gold were able to widen that advantage to 12-6. The Gators benefited from more Jack miscues, with another attack error adding to the point total and giving the visitors a seven-point lead. Tabron helped the Gators reach the 20-point plateau, and Morris extended the advantage to 21-12. Johnson closed out the set with another big kill to the back of the court, sealing the 25-15 victory.

Set Three

Trailing 3-1, the Gators bounced back to tie it at 4-all, and both squads later tied it up once again, 9-9. Back-to-back Juliana Bertolucci swings put the Jacks up by a pair, 14-12, and Humboldt pushed their lead to 20-16. The Gators then rattled off three-straight, which featured two Haynie kills and a block by Jensen and Billings. Humboldt State took a 22-21 lead, but that was all the scoring the hosts would do as the Gators ended the match with six-straight points, consisting of a pair of Billings-Tabron blocks and another Haynie swing for the 25-22 victory.

Up Next

SF State travels to Turlock, California next Thursday, November 8 for the CCAA Conference Championships, and will take on No. 1 Cal State San Bernardino.