BOX SCORE #18 Sonoma State 3, #8 UC San Diego 1 (22-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-23) -- Box Score
ROHNERT PARK -- Caylie Seitz enjoyed one of the most prolific nights on offense in the history of Sonoma State volleyball, smashing 29 kills en route to a blazing .565 hitting percentage with just three errors in 46 attacks as the 18th-ranked Seawolves came from behind to hand 8th-ranked UC San Diego its first loss of the 2013 season, 3-1, in front of a raucous #NomaNation crowd on Saturday night at The Wolves' Den.
The 29 kills by Seitz shattered SSU's record for most kills in a four-set match, topping the previous mark of 24. She only got hotter as the night went on, recording six kills in each of the first two sets before slamming eight kills to the floor in the third set and adding nine more in the fourth and final set. In fact, Seitz was nearly unstoppable in the Seawolves' match-clinching fourth set -- she had nine kills in 12 swings without committing a single error, a hitting percentage of .750. Seitz also rejected four attacks, two of which were solo blocks.
Sonoma State, the No. 18 team in the AVCA Division II Top 25 Poll going into this weekend, improves to 8-2 overall and 1-1 in the CCAA. Meanwhile, UC San Diego, which came into the night undefeated and ranked at No. 8 in the AVCA poll, drops to 9-1 overall and 1-1 in conference play. To make it even more impressive, the Tritons entered Saturday's contest having lost just two sets in their first nine matches of the season.
When the dust finally settled, it was the Seawolves to dominate the stat sheet, fueled by the loudest crowd in recent SSU volleyball history. Sonoma State sported a .345 hitting percentage, amassing for 66 kills with 17 errors in 142 attack attempts.
Kelsey Hull added 13 kills and
Regan Richert pounded 12 to the floor to lead the Seawolves. Defensively,
Nicole Gragnola led all players with 22 of the team's 68 digs on the night and
Rachel Andrews was in on five blocks, one of the solo variety. As a team, Sonoma recorded nine total blocks (three solo and 12 assisted).
After a relatively slow start, Sonoma State found itself trailing one set to none despite having more kills, more digs, more blocks and a better hitting percentage. However, the Seawolves service and reception errors plagued the home team all night (12 service errors and eight reception errors), and it would prove too difficult to overcome in the opening frame.
From the second set on, it was truly a battle between the two nationally-ranked squads as the entire match featured 18 ties and six lead changes. At 20-20, though, SSU went on to score five of the next seven points to knot the match at one set apiece.
It was all Sonoma State in the third set as the hosts jumped out to leads of 7-1, 10-4 and 20-14 before taking a 2-1 lead with a 25-20 win in set number three. In the fourth, SSU scored the first four points, but UCSD would battle back and it became a see-saw battle. Then, as the Tritons led 21-19 and looked as if they would pull away to force a deciding-fifth set, Seitz made her presence felt, scoring three of the next four SSU points to give the home team a 23-21 lead. And kill and a block by UCSD knotted the frame up at 23-23, but another kill by Seitz and a kill by Hull sealed the victory.
For the match, UC San Diego was led by the 15 kills of Danielle Dahle and 13 off the hand of Kameron Cooper.
Sonoma State will head south next weekend to face Cal State Dominguez Hills on Friday and Cal State L.A. on Saturday, both at 7:00 pm, before returning back home for a five-match homestand, beginning with an Oct. 4 contest against Cal State Stanislaus.
