SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – Sonoma State defeated Cal State LA in four sets 12-25, 25-20, 25-15, and 25-23 to advance to one of Friday's semifinal matches of the CCAA tournament. The Seawolves' record improves 15-11 overall. The Golden Eagles record now stands at 15-11 overall. Sonoma State will play Cal State San Bernardino tomorrow, Friday November 18 at 7:30pm in Coussoulis Arena, for the semifinal round of the CCAA tournament. 

Click here for the postgame press conference featuring SSU head coach Bear Grassl, junior Courtney Seda and senior Rachel Andrews.
 
Kelsey McIntire lead the team with 14 points, 12 kills on a .409 hitting percentage and three blocks. Olivia Schonewise followed with 11.5 total points, 11 kills and two blocks. Matching her in points and kills, was Rachel Andrews who hit .360 on the match. Calan Seitz contributed ten kills, respectively.
 
Seda was a leader in two categories, service aces (3) and assists (41). Ashleigh Phelps lead the team in digs with 16 and Seda followed with 12. Shonewise also chipped in 11 digs.
 
The Seawolves had a tough first set. They were able to get on the board at 1-4 from a kill by Seitz and thanks to a service ace by Seda, raised the score 4-2. Later, Sonoma was able to get the score within one at 9-8 thanks in part to kills by Schonewise and Wiesner and a Golden Eagle error. However, LA went on a 13-2 run that Sonoma could not recover from and they eventually lost the set 25-12.
 
Showing incredible resiliency, the Seawolves came back to win the second set. The score tied at 6, 10, and 13 all. Sonoma took the lead at 16-13 due to two Cal State LA attack errors and a service ace courtesy of Flores. At this point in the set, the Golden Eagles called for a timeout. The Seawolves were the first team to reach 20 points, and though the score was nearly point for point after 21-17, Sonoma comfortably closed the set with kills from McIntire, Wiesner, and Seitz to win it 25-20.
 
Sonoma had the lead in the third set 4-1, half of those four points came from Cal State LA errors. The teams tied the set at 6-all, but that is when Sonoma started making moves. The Seawolves got ahead by 13-10. The seven-point run was highlighted by kills from Seitz and Schonewise and a service ace from Flores. They increased their lead to eight at 19-11, as the Golden Eagles were having troubles with errors and McIntire, Wisner, and Schonewise were getting hot at the net. Cal State LA couldn't recover and would only score four more times. Sonoma closed a dominating set with kills by Andrews, one by Seda, and a couple Golden Eagle errors.
 
The fourth and final set was the closest and ended 25-23. The Seawolves were ahead 7-0 before the Golden Eagles got on the board. Andrews, Schonewise, and Seitz combined for five kills and Seda had two service aces. However, Cal State LA went on a 7-2 run to get the score within two points, before Schonewise, McIntire, and Seitz had 6 kills over Cal State LA's one and pushed their lead to 15-8. The Golden Eagles retaliated, sinking in their talons for a massive 9-1 run to gain the lead at 17-16. Sonoma responded with a four point run, two points courtesy of Andrews, to regain the lead at 20-17. Sonoma held the lead through the final five points as the teams rallied back and forth. First Cal State LA with two points, then Sonoma with three, then Cal State LA with three until a kill by Wiesner sounded match point 24-22. The Golden Eagles were able to score once more, but a McIntire and Schonewise dual block ended the set and match.