SAN FRANCISCO - Despite falling behind early, the San Francisco State volleyball team rallied late to defeat the visiting Cal State Dominguez Hills Toros 3-1 (20-25, 25-17, 25-20, 25-22).
The win starts SF State off perfect in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) action. It is the best start to the season for the Gators since 2012 when they also went 6-2 in their first eight matches.
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- Drew Morris continued her dominance, recording her fourth double-double of the season with a career high 20 kills and ten blocks.
- Jessica Haynie paced the Gators with 21 kills, which ties her season best. Freshman Payton Jensen led all players with 48 assists, and Vanessa Ditz added 18 digs in the victory.Â
- The .317 hitting percentage is the third-best mark all season, while their 58 kills and 55 assists were the second-most in a match this campaign.Â
- SF State is now 16-2 in its last 18 contests against Dominguez HIlls.
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The hosts got two quick points on kills by Morris and Olivia Tabron to begin the contest. A block by Morris and Bailey Johnson at the net tied things up 12-12. The Toros (4-4/0-1) strung together a 5-0 run to take a 20-15 advantage before Haynie ended the bleeding and cut it to four. Trailing 24-20, Morris kept the Gators (6-2/1-0) alive with a big kill at the net to regain service, but the Toros took set one 25-20.Â
Morris and Johnson turned in another big block in the second to put the hosts up 2-0, and Morris added a big solo stop to make it 5-1 and prompt a Toro timeout. This continued the run as Morris notched a service ace in the middle of a 5-0 Gator run to make it 10-3. Haynie powered in kill after kill, including one that hit the back corner past the diving Toros as SF State went up 16-6. Another Morris kill increased the lead 20-10, however Dominguez Hills rattled off the next four points to cut it to six, which featured a pair of Rylee Brown kills. Ditz's service ace gave the Gators set point and they would take the second set 25-17.Â
SFÂ Tabron and Marlena Billings got the Gator's on the board in the third. Haynie's kill off an assist from Jensen made it 6-5 to start the back-and-forth third set. An attack error by the visitors followed by another Haynie point and a Morris service ace brought things to 17-13. The rally continued with back-to-back kills by Tabron and Morris that extended the lead, and Haynie's ace brought the Gators to 20-15. Dominguez Hills would score four-straight to cut it to five, however Morris notched the 25-20 set three victory with her 18th kill of the night.Â
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Billings kicked off the fourth with a swing at the feet of the Toro defenders. Haynie got a big block at the net as Lydia Nguyen tried some trickery, putting SF State up 15-13, and she later notched another kill to regain the two-point lead. The Toros bounced back with a Esther Duru kill, and quickly regained the lead 18-17. Following a timeout. Tabron dropped in a swing and the visitors committed an attack error to put the hosts back up by one. Knotted 20-all, both sides laid it all out on the court but SF State broke through with a big Morris swing down the sideline for the one-point lead. Ditz's service ace capped off the comeback four-set win.
Up Next
The Gators remain at The Swamp tomorrow, September 8 to take on RV Cal State Los Angeles at 7 p.m. LIve stats and video will be provided, and be sure to follow @sfstate_vb on Twitter for in-game updates.
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