HONOLULU — The San Francisco State volleyball team split a pair of matches on Opening Day in the 2022 Magic Island Classic presented by Ala Moana Hotel by Mantra. The Gators swept Western Oregon (25-17, 25-13, 25-16) to start the day and fell in straight sets to No. 21 Lewis (25-21, 25-18, 27-25) in the nightcap.
- The Gators have faced Western Oregon five times dating back to 2000 and are now 4-1 against the Wolves. Prior to Friday's match, the Gators had never faced the Flyers.
- SF State recorded 15 service aces on the day, including nine versus WOU. Alhana Velasquez led the squad with five.
- SF State hit .319 against Western Oregon (0-1) but hit just .123 versus Lewis. The Gators posted a negative percentage in set one vs. the Flyers, the first time SF State has registered a negative percentage since November 5, 2021 at Cal State LA.
- Rebecca Rendahl led the Gators with 19 kills, including 10 vs. Lewis. Tamiya Wilson added 18 kills on the day, Velasquez tallied 14, and Kimberly DeBoer had a dozen.
- Libero Brianna DeBoer led the Gators with 24 digs, including 13 to start the season vs. WOU.
The Gators raced out to a 10-2 lead against Western Oregon, who is picked to finish last in the GNAC preseason coaches poll. The Wolves used a 5-1 run to cut the lead to five but the Gators closed out the set to take an early match lead. Tied 8-8 in set two, the Gators took advantage of four Wolves attack errors and opened up the set with a 7-2 run, then closed out the frame with a 10-1 run to cruise to a 2-0 lead. Down 5-4 in set three, SF State used a 5-0 rally to take a 9-5 lead and never looked back. Up three, the Gators used five straight kills from Wilson, Rendahl, Kimberly DeBoer, Josie Collier, and another by Rendahl to push the lead eight. A Wolves attack error set up match point and Velasquez closed things out with her ninth kill of the match.
The Gators led by as much as five in set one but couldn't hang on. The Gators led 18-16 but a Megan Schlechte kill and Gators attack error knotted the set at 18 apiece. The Gators briefly regained the lead on a set error but two more Schlechte kills and a pair of Flyers service aces found the Gators suddenly trailing by three. SF State got off to another strong start in set two only to see the set evened at 3-3. The Gators trailed by two when Lewis used three kills and a pair of Gators errors to push its lead to 18-11. SF State never got closer than five the rest of the set. Set three was a nailbiter. Up two, Rendahl grew the lead to 18-14 with back-to-back kills. A Wilson kill gave the Gators set point, 24-21, but the Flyers rallied with three kills and a Gators attack error that gave the Flyers set point, 25-24. A Lewis error evened the set at 25-25 but a service error proved costly as Lewis closed out the match on Bella Ray's kill, 27-25.
San Francisco State wraps up the tournament on Saturday, August 27 vs. Hawai'i Hilo at Noon PT/9 a.m. HT and No. 25 Chaminade at 10 p.m. PT/7 p.m. HT. The matches will be broadcast for a cost here with live stats available at sfstategators.com. Updates will also be available on Twitter at @sfstate_vb.
