ROHNERT PARK, Calif. – The Seawolves swept the Otters 28-26, 25-12, 25-18 Friday night in the Wolves' Den. Sonoma State moves into second place in the North Division of the CCAA with a 7-4 conference record and 9-9 overall. Cal State Monterey Bay's record falls to 4-8 in the CCAA and 9-10 overall.
Sonoma State almost doubled Cal State Monterey Bay in kills and blocks, a feat exemplified by
Rachel Andrews. Andrews had a big night with 11 kills on a .575 hitting percentage and five total blocks, one of them a solo. She had 14 points on the night and leads the CCAA in hitting percentage and is second in total blocks.
Emily Papale followed closely with 12 kills on a .533 hitting percentage and ten digs to total 13 points.
Donning the libero's jersey,
Ashleigh Phelps lead the team with 14 digs, a season and career best,
Lexi Mudd and Papale followed with ten a piece.
Courtney Seda lead the team, once again, in assists with 34.
For the first set, both teams were running efficiently on offense and the Otters edged ahead by 10-13. However, the Seawolves rallied back; a kill, a CSUMB error, and block by Andrews and Papale tied the set. The next point was teamwork from a pair of sister Seawolves;
Baelei Wiesner set it up and
Caiti Wiesner put it down to put the team ahead by one 14-13. After a kill by Seda and an Otter hitting error, CSUMB called a time out at 21-20. They had the Seawolves down at game point, but a quick kill by Andrews tied the set at 24 all. The score tied again at 26 all before a Papale kill ended the exciting first set 28-26.
The next set Sonoma jumped ahead with a 4-0 run before surrendering the ball, but an Andrews solo block got it back and the Otters called time out at 6-1 Sonoma. The next Monterey Bay time out came at 11-4 after Kelsie McIntire cranked a ball straight down on a slide.
Lexi Mudd had the lone Seawolve service ace to raise the score to 24-12 and an Andrews Wiesner block ended the set 25-12.
In the third and final set, the Seawolves were down 3-6, but caught up again at 15 all, and then went on a 7-2 run before CSUMB called a time out at 22-17. The next three Seawolf points were highlighted by a stellar dig by Phelps and kills by Papale, Andrews, and Seitz. But it was an Otter ball handling error that ended the set and match.
The Seawolves will host Cal State East Bay Saturday, October 22, at 7pm in the Wolves' Den.
