BOX SCORE #13 Sonoma State 3, Chico State 0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-21) -- Box Score
ROHNERT PARK -- Held to its lowest kill count since 2011, the Sonoma State women's volleyball team managed to get by a talented Chico State squad in a three-set sweep with an all-around effort on Saturday night at The Wolves' Den. The 13th-ranked Seawolves, who have won 10 of their last 11 matches, including five straight, improve to 12-2 overall and 5-1 in the CCAA, moving head coach
Bear Grassl to within two victories of 200 for his coaching career. The Wildcats fall even to 7-7 (4-3 CCAA).
The high-powered Seawolf offense was kept generally quiet by the Wildcat defense as
Madelyn Densberger and
Kelsey Hull managed a team-high eight kills apiece. In all, Sonoma State slammed 36 kills to the floor, which matched the 36-kill output by Chico State. It was the lowest since a 3-0 loss to Cal State San Bernardino in the NCAA West Regional final on Nov. 19, 2011. In fact, it was the lowest kill total in a victory since Sept. 4, 2009 when SSU swept the Geoducks of The Evergreen State College (Wash.) with just 33 kills.
Caylie Seitz added seven kills while
Rachel Andrews had six with no errors in 15 attacks, a .400 hitting percentage;
Regan Richert also had six to her name. As a team, the Seawolves hit just .188, 81 points below their season average going into Saturday's match. It wouldn't matter, however, as Sonoma had 12 total blocks including eight solo rejections, two each from Densberger, Seitz and Richert.
Nicole Gragnola had a team-high 15 digs, followed by 14 from Densberger, who notched another double-double.
Hayley Ross had four of Sonoma State's 10 aces on the night, as
Devin Shaver aced three.
Chico State's Alex Shurtz (15 kills) and Ellie Larronde (11 kills) combined for 26 kills, but no other Wildcat would have more than four as the team had an aforementioned 36 kills to match SSU, but was less efficient, sporting a .109 clip on offense. Emily Duran had 16 digs to lead all players.
Sonoma State continues its five-match homestand with a rare weekday match on Wednesday when it plays host to San Francisco State (8-6, 3-3 CCAA) at 7:00 pm in The Wolves' Den.
