SAN FRANCISCO - The San Francisco State volleyball team began CCAA action in thrilling fashion on Friday, defeating Cal State San Marcos 3-1 (18-25, 25-11, 25-18, 25-15) to earn their seventh consecutive victory. The streak is the longest since 2009 when they also won seven straight.
- Trinity Barr recorded 21 kills on just 27 attempts for a .741 hitting percentage, which is the third-best mark by a Gator since 2003.Teammate Bailey Johnson hit .778 with 14 kills on 18 attempts and no errors, the second highest percentage since 2003.Â
- Barr gives SF State its first 20-kill performer since September 7 of last season (27 contests).
- The victory is the fifth-straight regular season CCAA win and SF State remains a perfect against the Cougars at The Swamp.
- Despite dropping the first set, SF State hit .469 the last three sets to complete the comeback.Â
- The .363 hitting mark is the highest in 33 matches. SF State has held an opponent to a sub-.085 hitting mark for the fourth consecutive contest.
- Drew Morris had ten kills with nine digs, and Brenna Dougherty had a season high ten digs. Taylor Garcia added 17 digs. Payton Jensen dished out a season-best 48 assists and four aces.
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Back-to-back Cougar errors followed by Jessica Haynie's first kill of the night gave SF State its first lead, 7-6. A 5-0 run with Jensen adding consecutive aces put the Gators up 12-7 and San Marcos called a timeout. Barr recorded her third kill in just four attempts that maintained the five-point lead. The Cougars bounced back to tie it, 15-all following two-straight Kassy Doering kills. The visitor run was extended to eight straight as they went up by four before Morris ended the run with a kill following a marathon rally with big plays made by both sides to keep the play alive. San Marcos wrapped up the set-one victory with four consecutive points for the win.Â
A 5-0 run with a Brenna Dougherty ace followed by a Morris kill off an assist by Johnson gave the Purple and Gold a 6-1 lead. Billings and Morris teamed up for a block that widened the lead to seven and two more Cougar errors made it a nine-point lead and the Cougars called another timeout. Barr answered out of the break to make it a double-digit advantage. Johnson's third kill of the contest that went to the feet of the Cougars and Morris followed with another swing to put the Gators up 21-10. This was part of a 6-1 run by the hosts as they leveled the match with a 25-11 win.Â
Jensen dropped in her third ace to put the Gators up 3-0 early in the third. The Cougars bounced back to tie it, 4-4, but Barr continued her lights-out play from the right side with her tenth swing in just 14 attempts for the lead. That advantage was pushed to 12-9 on another Barr kill and a Cougar attack error. Haynie brought the Gators to within four as they now lead 21-16. Johnson added a kill and followed with a block for set point and Barr put it away with yet another kill for the 25-18 win.Â
Morris sniped the end line for the 9-6 lead as the Gators aimed to close out the match. Haynie's ace widened the lead to five, and Johnson's kill off the over made it 16-10. A Johnson swing from the middle followed by another Cougar error extended the lead to 20-12. Barr added two more kills down the stretch as they grabbed match point, and an attack attempt into the net sealed the win.Â
Both sides were tied up 3-3 before the Eagles ran away with the final frame, rattling off six consecutive points to go up 12-5. Morris ended the run with her 17th kill of the contest but the deficit was too much to overcome as the Eagles completed the comeback, 15-7.
The Gators continue the homestand against UC San Diego tomorrow at 7 p.m. Live stats and a stream will be provided.
