SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Can't count the Gators out! Like they did at West Regionals, the Gators played from behind but did not waver when the odds were against them.
Down 0-2 to second-seed No. 6 Central Oklahoma, the No. 21 San Francisco State volleyball team won with a reverse sweep (20-25, 13-25, 25-23, 26-24, 15-10) to advance to the NCAA National Championship Semifinals match.
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- The Gators enter the semifinals with a 25-6 record. In five-set matches, SF State is 5-1 on the season with the loss coming in the first match of the season. Central Oklahoma ends its season 33-3.
- Aidan Goodrich had a career-high 24 kills to lead the Gators. Izzy Issak added 19, followed by Anastacia Garza with 13. Issak now has 465 kills on the season and sets a new single season record.
- Kimberly DeBoer had 53 assists to give her 1284 on the season and set a new single-season record.
- After a strong blocking presence against Cal Poly Pomona, the front of the next picked up where it left off. The Gators finished with nine total blocks with Katie Parker recording a team-high six.
- While the Gators only had one service ace, they limited their service errors to five.
- Jenna Karp led a group of five Bronchos in double figure kills with 17.
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The Gators fell behind early but back-to-back blocks tied the first set up at 5-5. A setter dump by
Kimberly DeBoer followed by a pair of points Issak had a hand in put the Gators up 12-9. A 3-0 run by the Bronchos put them up 19-16 and the Gators called timeout. The Bronchos forced the Gators to sideout after every serve and halted any comeback by the Gators.
SF State struggled to figure it out offensively and finished set two with a -.05 hitting percentage and eight attack errors.
The Gators came out of the locker room with some fire in set three. While neither team led by more than four, a pair of kills by Goodrich followed by an attack error by the Bronchos gave the Gators some momentum up 20-17. Issak got the Gators to set point with a kill at 24-21. The Bronchos responded with a kill and served an ace to the backend of the court but Issak landed another kill to continue the match.
Building off the third set, the Gators opened set four 4-1. The Gators took their largest lead up 17-12 but a 4-0 run from the Bronchos brought them within one of the Gator lead. A couple of erros by the Gators gave Central Oklahoma their largest lead of the set up 21-19. A service error and a kill by Goodrich tied the set up again. With the set tied at 24-24, Lari Migliorino's attack error gave the Gators the serve back and Issak sent the Gators to the fifth-set
With the fifth set tied 4-4, Garza, Issak and Parker each landed kills and Issak and Parker knocked a ball down for a block to get the Gators to the halfway point of set five. The Bronchos got within two with a kill but the Gators landed five straight kills to go up 13-6. Up 14-7, Central Oklahoma blocked the Gators attack a couple of times to stay in the match but Goodrich came through and sent the Gators to the semifinals.
The Gators will play Angelo State on Friday, December 13 at 2 PST p.m./ 4 CST p.m. The game can be streamed on ESPN+ with more updates at sfstategators.com
