HAYWARD, Calif. – San Francisco State's volleyball team continued its winning ways to open up California Conference Athletic Association action and defeated crosstown rivals Cal State East Bay 3-1 (14-25, 25-19, 25-12, 25-14). After a sluggish first set, the Gators found their groove to win the second set and took command in sets three and four. SF State remains perfect at 8-0 and 1-0 in CCAA action while the Pioneers fall to 5-4 and 0-1 in CCAA action.
- Jessica Haynie recorded a career-high 22 kills and two shy of reaching the all-time list in a single match.
- Kimberly DeBoer clipped a perfect 1.000 hitting percentage and recorded six kills to go with 14 assists.
- After starting the first set with eight errors, the Gators recorded six errors between the next three sets.
- Brianna DeBoer had a match high 22 digs.
- Payton Jensen had 21 assists and three service aces.
- The Gators edged the Pioneers in blocks 9-3.
Despite staying even with the Pioneers in terms of kills (nine to 11), the Gators faltered in the first set thanks in part to errors. They recorded eight attack errors, two service errors and hit at .030.
SF State came into the second set more focused on its attack and hit .324. The Gators took their first lead of the evening after a long rally concluded in a kill from Jessica Haynie to make it a 10-9 set score. Back-to-back kills from Haynie and Bekah Roth extended the lead to 14-11 and forced an East Bay time out. The Gators would hold no less than a two point cushion throughout the rest of the set.
The Gators got off to a 7-0 start with a pair of service aces from Payton Jensen. The Pioneers never got in striking distance of the Gators lead and hit .037. SF State recorded twice as many kills as East Bay and finished the set with 14 compared to the Pioneer's seven.
After being down 4-2 to start the set, the Gators used a 9-0 run to retake the lead. East Bay came within five at 16-11 but the Gators easily finished off the set with three of their next nine points coming from attack errors or bad sets. SF State posted a match high 16 kills in the final set.
"We got the jitters out of our system in that first set and gathered our composure," said Head Coach Matt Hoffman. "We settled in and played our game the rest of the way."
The Gators will have their first true road trip when they travel to Cal State San Marcos on Saturday, September 18. First serve is slated for 1 p.m. The match will be broadcast free on the CCAA Network with live stats available at sfstategators.com. Updates will also be available on Twitter at @sfstate_vb.
