SAN FRANCISCO - The #23 San Francisco State volleyball team used a balanced and precise attack to open up the Gator Classic with a 3-0 win over Western Oregon (25-13, 25-19, 25-19).
- The Gators pick up their first win of the season, improving to 1-4. Western Oregon falls to 0-5.
- The team broke a program record for best hitting percentage in a match, clipping .544. The previous program record was set in 2021 against Holy Names. The Gators hit .519 against them.
- Grace Witcher, Rubi Harrington and Alana Larson each had nine kills during the match. Lilly Rix had six kills and a percent hitting percentage.
- Tamiya Wilson and Melanie Hewlett each had three aces.
- Hewlett had 17 assists, followed by 13 from Rachel Reyes.
The Gators had their most dominate set in the first one as they finished the set with a .682 hitting percentage and no attack errors. Up 17-9, three of Western Oregon's final four points came from service errors by the Gators. Down 6-5 to start set two, the Gators went on a 4-0 run featuring a pair of Wilson aces to take a lead they would not relinquish. Witcher led all players in the set with five kills. Gators faced their biggest deficit of the day down 7-1 to open set three, forcing a timeout. The Gators cut away at the lead and a pair of kills from Larson in a 4-0 run got them within one. Down 15-13, a 6-1 run gave the Gators the lead back. After both teams traded service errors, Western Oregon had a few errors that piled up and gave the Gators the lead.
The Gators face one of their toughest challenges of the tournament on Friday, Sept 12 at 7 pm when they host #6 University of Tampa. Live stats are available at
sfstategators.com/livestats_vb and fans can watch at home on FloCollege.
