SAN FRANCISCO - Another day, another sweep for the San Francisco State volleyball team, which made quick work of the Dominican Penguins on day two of the West Region Showcase. The Gators defeated Dominican for their second-straight sweep and fourth consecutive victory as they won 25-17, 25-14, 28-26.
MATCH ONE
- For the third-straight contest, SF State (5-2) held its opponent to a sub-.200 hitting percentage as the Penguins (0-3) recorded a .048, which is the second-lowest mark allowed this season.
- The Gators answered the Penguin's attack well, recording a season-high 59 digs in addition to a season-best eight blocks.
- The four-match win streak is the third in the last two seasons for SF State. Last year the Purple and Gold began and ended the regular season with a pair of four-match streaks.
- SF State shared the wealth as four Gators had seven or more kills, with Bailey Johnson leading all players with nine. Drew Morris followed with eight while Sophie Anderson and Trinity Barr each had seven. In addition to a career best in kills, Anderson also recorded a career-best ten digs. Taylor Garcia paced SF State with 13 digs and Morris added 11.
- Payton Jensen handed out 19 assists and Cassandra Fong added 11. Marlena Billings had a season-high six blocks.
The Gators came out strong in the first to go up 9-2, with aces coming from Garcia and Jade Gillespie, and Morris and Johnson supplying the swings. Dominican bounced back following a timeout to go on a 5-0 run that cut it to two before a service error regained service for SF State. Billings' first point of the night put the hosts up 12-8, and a Barr swing maintained that four-point lead with the score 17-13. Morris started a 6-0 run as SF State closed in on the early match lead with another booming kill to the corner, and she teamed up with Johnson for a block that made it 21-16. A Dominican service error sealed the 25-17 win for SF State.
The momentum carried over to the second with a 4-0 lead that was pushed to 9-5 following a big Barr kill that the Penguins couldn't pick up. A 6-2 run featuring kills by Johnson, Barr, Morris and Anderson gave the Purple and Gold a 17-12 advantage, and more Penguin miscues continued to add points to the scoreboard as they reached the 20-point plateau. Two aces by Brenna Dougherty brought the Gators to within two from set point, and Anderson ended the frame with her fourth kill of the night.
A Johnson kill off an assist by Fong followed by another Penguin error put the hosts up 6-3, and Johnson and Fong would team up once again to make it a 7-5 lead. Midway through the set, Anderson dropped one in past the diving Penguin and Jessica Haynie followed with an ace as the lead grew to 13-8. The Gators started to roll away with it as Billings and Danielle Ryan stuffed Tiffany Wong to go up 22-17, but the Penguins scored six-straight points to take their first lead of the contest at 23-22. They would later tie it up four more times as they eyed a fourth set, but a service error followed by Morris' kill off an assist from Fong completed the sweep.
The Gators wrap up the West Region Showcase against Fresno Pacific at 5 p.m. Live stats and a stream will be provided.
