SAN FRANCISCO - In comeback and thrilling fashion, the San Francisco State volleyball team won it's home openers over Humboldt State and Concordia (Ore.) to open up the West Region Showcase.
The Gators (4-2) defeated the Lumberjacks 3-1 (19-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-21), before sweeping the Cavaliers, 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-22).
MATCH ONE
- SF State hit .288 in the contest, the second highest mark in this young season. The 52 kills and ten aces are also both the second-most accrued this campaign.
- The Gators held the Lumberjacks (2-3) to a .188 clip, the second-lowest allowed this year.
- Drew Morris, and Jessica Haynie each had 12 kills, and Haynie ended the match with four straight to seal the victory. Morris also added 11 digs for her second double-double of the season.
- Bailey Johnson had ten kills and hit .533, Payton Jensen had 43 assists, one shy of her season high. Taylor Garcia had a season-best 21 digs.
- The win is the third-straight for SF State in home openers.
Big net play by Humboldt's Summer Hansen and Emma Flewell put them up 7-2 early following a 5-0 run before Johnson's first kill of the day ended the streak. The Gators struggled in the first set, hitting just .083 with eight kills and saw themselves down 14-9. Consecutive Lenox Loving kills widened the Lumberjack lead to 18-11, and Sophie Anderson halted another streak with her first point of the match off a dish from Jensen. Back-to-back Gator miscues ended the first set with a 25-19 setback.
SF State turned it on in the second, hitting .615 en route to the 25-16 win. Four straight points put the hosts up 7-4, which was capped off by Jade Gillespie's ace. The lead grew to 15-11 as Jensen dropped in a sneaky kill midway through the frame off an assist from Anderson. Barr and Morris pushed the lead to five and force a Lumberjack timeout, and back-to-back Haynie swings put the Gators up 21-14. Barr sealed the equalizer with her fifth kill of the day.
The Gators stormed to a 6-2 lead in the third following a series of kills and an ace by Haynie. The Eagles finally found their offensive rhythm to tie it at 11-all and score three-straight to go up 17-14. A pair of errors coupled with a Haynie swing brought the Gators back. The Eagles pulled ahead 23-18 after a 4-0 run, and the Purple and Gold cut it to one after another Haynie ace, but the Eagle were able to stay alive with an ace of their own to take the third.
Haynie's ace made it a 4-2 advantage, however Humboldt State battled back to take a 7-5 lead as Carla Crespo had a pair of aces. Johnson narrowed it to two with a nice kill to the back line. Trailing 17-14, Barr and Marlena Billings teamed up for a block to stuff the Lumberjack outside hitter to cut it to two, and it was all tied up two plays later on a Humboldt attack error. Two more Lumberjack errors gave SF State a 21-19 lead. Jensen's third ace of the contest gave the Gators set point, and another Humboldt miscue gave SF State the set, 25-22.
MATCH TWO
- The three-set victory is the second sweep for SF State so far in 2019.
- SF State hit .315, the second time this season they hit above .300. The Gators' hitting percentage improved with every set (.244-.345.-.382).
- Jensen handed out 42 assists, giving her three-straight matches with 40-or-more assists. Morris led all players with 12 kills while Hayne added 11 and Johnson had ten. Barr had seven kills, two shy of tying her season best. The freshman also hit .500 in 14 attempts.
- Concordia (0-4) hit .135, which is the third time overall this season and second time today that an opponent has been held to a sub-.200 hitting percentage. The 32 kills are the second-fewest by a Gator opponent this year.
SF State strung together a 6-0 run in the first with kills by Morris and Barr, and a block by Billings and Morris made it a 6-4 lead. The Gators pushed their advantage to 12-8 as Haynie added to the scoreboard, and the junior would later record an ace to make it a 17-11 lead. The Cavaliers, who were held to a .070 hitting percentage in the first game, cut it to four with back-to-back kills by Camille Guerrero to make it 23-19. With the Gators at set point, the visitors got three more to narrow their deficit to two, and SF State called a timeout to regroup. Hayne quickly ended things with a kill that clipped the back line for the 25-22 win.
The Gators bounced back following a slow start in which they found themselves down 6-0 to score six of the next seven and only trail by one. A 6-0 run of their own put SF State up 12-8, with Jensen, Johnson and Morris providing the swings. Haynie's fifth kill of the night widened the lead to 14-9, and the rally continued with another Concordia error, their seventh at that point, as the lead went to six and prompt a Cavalier timeout. A swing down the line from Barr made it a 21-17, and three-straight kills by Morris gave SF State set point. The junior sealed it two serves later with her tenth kill of the match.
Barr knotted the score at 11-all with a point off the block as SF State eyed the sweep. The Purple and Gold found themselves down 14-13, and Johnson's eighth point tied it up once again. Consecutive Haynie kills put the Gators up two, 16-14, and Jensen's ace made it an 18-15 lead. Barr powered it in off the Cavalier backline as the Gators now reached the 20-point plateau, and another Morris kill forced Concordia to call another timeout as the scoreboard read 21-18. The Cavaliers narrowed it to two, 23-21, looking to force a fourth, but Johnson had another idea and completed the cross-court kill that tipped off of the Concordia block attempt for the sweep.
The Gators battle Dominican tomorrow, September 13 at 7:30 p.m. on day two of the West Region Showcase. Live stats and a stream will be provided.
