SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco State women's volleyball team staved off Chico State and held on for 3-2 (25-23, 25-21, 21-25, 24-26, 15-13) victory at home on Saturday night.
- The Gators' 10-3 start is the best start to the season since 2012 when that squad started 11-3. The only squad in program history with a better start is the 2009 squad that started 12-2 and advanced to the NCAA West Regional.
- SF State (10-3/3-1 CCAA) has been victorious in eight of its last ten matches and improves to 8-1 at The Swamp.
- It is the first five-set victory for the Gators since 2017.
- Drew Morris led all players with a career-high 23 kills. Trinity Barr finished with 19, two short of her career high and Jessica Haynie added a dozen kills.
- Payton Jensen dished out 57 assists, setting a new career mark by one set last season at Stanislaus State.
Down four in set one, the Gators got a Bailey Johnson kill and three consecutive service aces from Brenna Dougherty that cut the lead to two. Makaela Keeve answered with back-to-back kills for Chico State and the Gators soon found themselves back in a five-point deficit. Jessica Haynie and Trinity Barr recorded back-to-back kills, then a Wildcats attack error cut the deficit to two. Another Barr kill cut the lead to one and Barr and Marlena Billings teamed up for a block to tie the set at 22.
A solo block by Barr gave the Gators the lead before Keeve tied it at 23-23. The Wildcats committed back-to-back attack errors to end the set.
Tied 12-12 in set two, the Gators went up three on a Barr kill and back-to-back service aces by Haynie.
The Wildcats called timeout but the Gators remained in control thanks in larget part to .516 hitting in the set and stretched the lead to as large as four. Billings' hit down the middle secured a 25-20 set two victory.
Chico State appeared ready to cruise to victory in set three. Up 11-1, SF State couldn't get much going. Then, the Gators found their grove. Johnson recorded a kill that cut the lead to five and prompted a Wildcats timeout.
The Gators recorded a point on a Chico State rotation error, Johnson had a solo block, and a Wildcats attack off the antenna pulled SF State within one. Out of their second timeout, a Wildcats error knotted the set at 20-20. Chico State took the next three points and another Morris kill cut it two but a kill by Grace Shepherd and an over ball by Keeve gave the Wildcats the set, 25-21.
With set four tied 9-9, the Wildcats grabbed control and the Gators found themselves playing catchup yet again. Down three, a Haynie kill and a pair of Wildcats kills pulled the Gators to within one, 20-19. After a Wildcats point stopped the bleeding, Barr and Morris notched kills to tie it at 21-21. The Gators grabbed a 24-23 lead but three consecutive errors forced a fifth set.
SF State jumped out to a 3-2 advantage but four unanswered points gave the Wildcats a 6-3 lead and forced a Gators timeout. Jensen dished to Barr and Morris to pull the Gators within one but an attack error and a Brooke Ono dump reestablished a three-point lead for the Wildcats. After switching sides, Johnson and Morris met at the net for a block, then Kim Wright's attack on the next play sailed past the end line for a Gators point and a Wildcats timeout. Another Wildcats attack error knotted the set at 8-8 but the Gators gave the lead right back on a service error. Jessica Haynie's kill tied it back at 9-9 and the Wildcats failed to return a pair of Sophie Anderson serves. Kelley Jacome's kill cut the Gators lead to 11-10 but Jensen dumped a ball into a wide-open court to put the Gators back up two. The Wildcats knotted it at 12-12 with two more kills then Billings slammed a ball down the middle to make it 13-12. A Wildcats attack error set up match point but Wright's 11th kill momentarily delayed things for the Gators before Barr's 19th kill of the match secured the victory.
The Gators play their next four matches on the road. After sweeping Stanislaus State on Friday, SF State heads to Turlock on Tuesday, October 1 for a 6 p.m. match. Live video and stats will be provided by Stan State. Updates will also be available on Twitter at @sfstate_vb.
