ROHNERT PARK, Calif-  The Sonoma State volleyball team came up with perhaps their biggest win of the season on Saturday night, coming back to defeat No. 18 Cal Poly Pomona three sets to two in front of a raucous Seawolf Gym crowd.  The Seawolves got 25 kills from star senior Kristy Sather as they improved to 21-6, 13-5 CCAA and strengthened their bid for their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1993.  The Broncos drop to 16-7, 13-5 CCAA.

The Seawolves won by scores of 22-25, 25-14, 16-25, 26-24, 15-12 on Saturday night.  Sather set a Sonoma State record with 86 attempts in the match, besting the old mark of 80 set by Lindsay Smith in 2003.  Sather finished with 25 kills, nearly twice as many as any other player in the match.

After the teams split the first two sets, the Broncos rolled to a set three win to go up 2-1.  They were looking good in the fourth as well, leading 23-22 and needing just two more points to close the door.  That's when the Seawolves dug deep to stave off elimination as kills by Sather and Marianne Fox set the stage for a block by Ali Walker and Brooke Moore that sealed the win. 

Though it would be tied four times, the last at 10-10, the Seawolves wouldn't trail in set five.  Up 14-12, the Seawolves would turned to (who else?) Sather.  Her 86th and final swing of the night set off a frenzied celebration on the court.

Sather wasn't the only Seawolf to have a solid match as Rikki Buckshnis had 11 kills and Brooke Moore seemingly came up with big play after big play on her way to ten kills and four blocks.

Lindsay Brown had 45 assists, moving her to within three of the school's career record (2,395 set by Tina Mesquita from 2002-04). 

Ali Walker and Taylor Krenwinkel were also phenomenal on defense, finishing with 20 and 25 digs respectively.

Jenna Young led four Broncos in double figures with 13 kills.  Vanessa Williams had 12 and Anne-Marie Hofmans also supplied 12.  Williams was deadly at the net as well, bringing down 11 blocks.  As a team, the Broncos had 17 blocks compared to just seven for the Seawolves.

Sonoma State has two regular season games left.  The first comes Wednesday at Humboldt State with the finale coming on Saturday in Rohnert Park against UC San Diego.

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