SAN FRANCISCO - The San Francisco State volleyball team fought to a split on Friday to open up the D2 West Region Showcase. The Gators made it four-straight victories to begin the day as they swept Saint Martin's 25-11, 25-22, 25-21 before dropping a five-set heartbreaker 25-23, 26-24, 16-25, 26-28, 15-11 to undefeated Montana State-Billings.
Match One
- The 4-0 start is the first four-match win streak since 2014. The sweep is also SF State's second-straight win over the Saints and their third sweep in four meetings.
- This is the first time since 2011 we have not dropped a set over the course of four matches.
- Jessica Haynie and Drew Morris both led the Gators with nine kills each and Morris also notched nine digs.
- Brenna Dougherty added five service aces which is tied-for-the eighth-most in a match in program history.
- SF State (4-1) held Saint Martin's (0-3) to a .073 hitting percentage, including a -0.040 in the first set, which is the lowest allowed by the Purple and Gold this season.
The Gators stormed out to an 11-1 advantage in the first set, which was capped off by one of Dougherty's five service aces of the contest. Kills by Morris and Haynie put SF State up by eight midway through the set, and the Gators continued to roll by going up 22-10 following consecutive kills form Morris. SF State hit .450 in that first frame and committed just one error.
The Saint's battled back to take a 9-7 advantage in the second, which is tied for their largest of the set. Haynie knotted the score at nine-all with back-to-back kills, however the visitors would go up once again on a kill by Rachel Gondrezick. Four-straight points put SF State back up 21-15, and a Marlena Billings kill gave the Gators set point up 24-20 before she put things away with another point for the set two win.
SF State never trailed in the final frame, and a Dougherty ace made it a 4-1 advantage. The Saints would narrow their deficit to one on another Gondrezick kill, however back-to-back errors and a Payton Jensen kill put the Gators back up 9-4. Olivia Tabron closed out the contest on a deep kill off a dish from Jade Gillespie as the Gators remained perfect in their first four matches.
Match Two
- SF State's first-set loss was their first dropped set of the season.
- Morris recorded 14 kills and 14 digs for her third double-double of the season.
- Haynie led all players with 21 kills and added a pair of solo blocks. Ditz notched a season-high 20 digs in the effort while Jensen added a season-best 51 assists.
- The Gators had 11.5 total blocks in the game, which is the ninth-most in a contest in program history.
Dougherty carried over her service dominance from match one over to match two of the day to notch her first service ace of the contest, tying things up 2-2. The Gators stormed out to a 9-5 advantage behind back-to-back Haynie kills. The Yellowjackets (5-0) battled back to tie things up at 15-all, and later went up by two. A big kill by Hayine that just nipped the line tied things up at 19-all. Down 22-19, Sophie Anderson notched her third kill of the night to cut it to two, and followed with another kill to narrow the deficit even more. The Yellowjackets had match point but a big Johnson kill kept SF State alive down 24-23. However MSU-Billings got a big swing by Riley Moore to the back end of the court to take the win and hand SF State its first set loss of the season, 25-23.
Billings made a huge block at the net to start the Gator scoring in the second set. Back-to-back Morris swings put SF State up 4-3, and she later notched another kill to take a 6-5 lead. Trailing 10-9, the visitors rallied off three-straight points capped off by a kill by Miranda McConnell to regain the lead. The back-and-forth continued with both teams unable to go up by more than two points in the middle of the set. A Yellowjacket attack error followed by a Tabron kill tied up the score yet again at 19-all, and the visitors later pulled ahead 24-22 following a Gator service miscue. SF State got a big swing by Johnson and a ball handling error by MSU Billings to tie it up 24-24, however the Yellowjackets got kills from Eavan Taylor and Bayli Monck to seal the 26-24 win.
Tied 6-6, Haynie knocked her eighth kill of the contest towards the near sideline, giving the home team a 7-6 lead. Another Haynie point and a service ace by Jensen widened the Gator lead 10-7, however the relentless Yellowjackets would narrow the deficit yet again. Billings game up big with a huge block at the net to make it 12-10, which Dougherty followed with a service ace. Johnson dropped another kill to extend the lead 16-13 and force a Yellowjacket timeout. SF State continued to roll with consecutive kills by Haynie and an attack error to make it 20-15. SF State reached set point after three-straight points, and Billings put it away with a kill at the net for the 25-16 win.
SF State carried over the momentum into the fourth to go up 5-2, and after a Yellowjacket point, Johnson knocked a kill from the net to make it 6-3. MSU Billings called a timeout trailing 9-4, and came back with two-quick points, but the Gators kept driving to go up 13-8 before a Maura Donovan service ace extended the lead. Another booming kill by Haynie near the sideline started a Gator run where they carried a 18-12 lead. Morris' deep kill past the diving Yellowjackets ended a run by the visitors and brought SF State up 23-18. But MSU Billings rattled off the next points points to cut it to one. Jensen gave the Gators set point by dropping it right over the net in front of the defenders, however the visitors tied it up 24-all on a Moore kill. Tied up 26-26, MSU Billings committed a service error and a block by Johnson and Morris secured the marathon fourth set win.
The Purple and Gold came out firing with three-quick points in the deciding fifth set, but the Yellowjackets tied it up after a timeout. MSU Billings would later score three-straight to tie it up at 7-all, and then go up 10-9 before Haynie's kill tied things up. Unfortunately the visitors strung together another three-point streak, and got match point off an ace by Alvarez to fend off the Gators.
Up Next
The Gators wrap up the D2 West Region Showcase tomorrow against Hawai'i Hilo at 10:45 a.m. and host Academy of Art at 7:45 p.m. Live stats and a stream will be provided.
