SAN FRANCISCO - Despite a late surge, the San Francisco State volleyball team outlasted Cal State East Bay on Tuesday as the Gators improved to 9-1 at The Swamp behind a (25-20, 25-14, 23-25, 25-21) 3-1 victory.
- SF State (12-5/5-3 CCAA) now has its most home wins since the 2012 season when they went 9-3 at The Swamp.
- Trinity Barr set a new career high as she had 23 kills, which is tied for the fifth-most in the CCAA this season, and hit .512 while accounting for 25 points. Drew Morris also had a strong outing, recoding 19 kills for her 11th double-digit kill performance of the season, and hit a season-best .429. Bailey Johnson registered 12 kills, four of which came on five attempts in set two.
- Payton Jensen had a career-high 59 assists, which are the second-most in the NCAA this year in a four-set match, and tied for the sixth-most by a Gator since 2003. The sophomore added 14 digs four her fourth double-double of the year and four aces.
- Taylor Garcia added 20 digs, Sophie Anderson had six kills and nine digs.
- The 71 kills and 68 assists are both tied for the sixth-most by the Gators since 2003.
- The win is the first over the Pioneers (3-13/2-6 CCAA) since 2015 (eight contests).
The Pioneers went up 4-1 before kills by Anderson and Johnson made it a one-point contest. Trailing by two, big kills by Jessica Haynie and Barr, whose shot bounced off the Pioneer back line player, evened it up at six-all. Haynie put the hosts up 8-7 with an ace, and Barr made it a 10-8 lead later on with a solo block. Swings by Johnson and Morris extended the advantage to 13-10 and East Bay called a timeout, and the run continued following the break with another kill by Johnson and an ace by Jensen. East Bay bounced back for a 5-0 run to tie it up, 18-18. Haynie started a 4-0 run as the Purple and Gold pulled ahead 22-18. Barr would record kills on four of the final five points scored by SF State as they took set one, 25-20.
Barr picked up where she left off with consecutive swings to the back line for the 5-2 lead. Her ninth kill put SF State up 8-3, and a Haynie followed by a Jensen drop-in kill made it an eight-point lead and prompt another visitor timeout. Jensen's second ace made it 16-7 as the Gators rolled to a 2-0 match lead, and Barr continued her hot evening with an 11th kill that made it a 19-11 advantage. Her and Morris teamed up for a block for a double-digit lead. Up 23-14, Morris and Jensen ended it for the 25-14 victory.
Jensen dished to Barr on back-to-back points giving her 14 kills on the night to tie it up 5-5 in the third. The surge continued for SF State before East Bay battled back to cut it to two, 14-12, and that two-point cushion was maintained until it was a 17-15 lead before another booming Barr kill followed by a Pioneer error put the Gators up 19-15. Anderson dropped in a kill in front of the diving Pioneer for the 21-16 lead, but East Bay stayed alive with a 6-1 run that leveled the score, 22-all, and an ace gave them a key late lead. The visitors completed the comeback with another ace for the 25-23 win.
East Bay carried their momentum into the fourth with a 5-4 lead before Morris powered in a swing for her 15th kill of the contest. Barr reached 19 kills as she eyed a new season high with two-straight swings for a 9-8 lead. The freshman would reach that milestone as she put the Gators up 12-9 off an assist from Jensen, her 50th of the night. The duo teamed up again for a 13-10 lead, and Anderson responded later on for an 18-12 advantage. But once again the Pioneers battled back with a 5-2 run that narrowed their deficit to two. Morris and Johnson went back-to-back with kills to reach match point, and Morris sent everyone home with her 19th of the evening for the win.
The Gators tangle with Cal State East Bay this Saturday at 7 p.m. for our annual Dig Pink Match. The team will be raffling off autographed volleyballs, with proceeds benefiting breast cancer research.
