POMONA, Calif. — The No. 21 San Francisco State volleyball team earned its first-ever NCAA Championship victory with a thrilling 3-2 (25-15, 22-25, 26-24, 20-25, 16-14) Region quarterfinals victory over RV Cal State LA on Thursday night inside Kellogg Arena.
- SF State improves to 22-6 on the season. The 22 wins matches the most in a single season. Cal State LA, the defending national champions, end their season at 18-11.
- A trio of Gators recorded double-digit kill numbers. Izzy Issak led the way with 18, followed by Aidan Goodrich with 15 and Tamiya Wilson with 14. Issak and Wilson both eclipse over 400 kills on the season, making them the second and third players to ever complete this feat at SF State.
- The Gators recorded a season-high 99 digs. Briana DeBoer had a career-high 36, followed by Wilson who also recorded a record-high 20.
- Kimberly DeBoer had 46 assists on the night.
- Asia Arbaurgh had a team-high three aces, followed by Wilson and Issak with two. Arbaugh and Wilson each have 47 on the season, top ten in a single season.
- LA's Emily Elliot landed 25 kills, seven aces and four blocks.
Issak landed three kills during a 6-0 run that put the Gators up 9-5 before Cal State LA called its first time-out in set one. The Gators used another 6-0 run, bookended by kills from Wilson, to take an 18-10 lead. SF State led by as much as 11 points in the set one victory.
In a back-and-forth affair during set two, the Gators led 20-18 as LA took its first time-out. They landed four straight kills and capped off the run with an ace to lead 23-22. A service error gave the serve back to the Gators and Goodrich landed a kill to get the Gators back within one but the Golden Eagles took the next two points to even the match score.
The Gators trailed through the first part of set three. Down 11-6, a service error gave the Gators the serve back, and three straight kills followed by an attack tied the set back up. Tied at 23-23, Wilson's attack was blocked and the Golden Eagles reached set point. She came up clutch and recorded three straight kills to deliver the third set win.
Cal State LA opened set four 5-0 but the Gators quickly erased the deficit to lead 7-6. Tied at 13-13, the Golden Eagles had a couple of runs to give themselves a cushion while they forced the Gators to sideout on back-to-back serves. Three straight attack errors by the Gators put the Golden Eagles up 23-17 and proved too much to overcome.
Down 10-5 in the final set, the Gators did not blink knowing their season was on the line. Issak, Wilson and
Chloe Henning all had kills to tie the set up 11-11. Wilson got the Gators to match point up 14-12 but the Golden Eagles equalized it. An attack error from Samarah DaCoud gave the Gators the lead back and Goodrich landed the final attack to send the Gators to the next round.
The 2024 NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Championship continues on Friday when the Gators take on No. 4 Chaminade at 7 p.m. at Kellogg Arena. Live stats will be available at sfstategators.com, and fans can tune in to the action for free on FloCollege.
