ROHNERT PARK -- Though the Sonoma State volleyball team went nearly two weeks without practices or games, the Seawolves looked as dominant as before, earning a convincing 3-1 victory over visiting UC San Diego on Friday night at The Wolves' Den.  Sonoma improves to 15-4 overall and 9-1 in the CCAA, while the Tritons, who are receiving votes in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II Top 25 Poll, fell to 14-5 overall and 8-3 in conference action.

It what seems like a season where the Seawolves could make excuses for tough scheduling, and now a 13-day layoff from games due to the North Bay fires, this team continues to prove that they are resilient, mentally tough, focused, determined, and whatever adjective you would want to describe how the Seawolves have preserved in the toughest of situations.  

In the first set the game was a "who would blink first" contest. Both teams had 17 kills, but the deciding factor was that the Seawolves only had five errors, and the Tritons accumulated eight.   The game was tight all the way through, and near the end, the Seawolves had a slim 23-21 lead.  Very quickly the score became tied, and a big kill by UC San Diego's Amanda Colla gave the Tritons a 26-25 lead. 

As she had done all night with great serve receive passing, it was senior outside hitter Calan Seitz who was the stabilizing force on the team who had a big kill to tie the game at 26-26.   Then stepped up ever-reliable defensive specialist Ashleigh Phelps who served an ace, and then another tough ball to force the Tritons into a situation where a hitting error ended the game and the home team was on their way.

In the second set, things didn't go as well for the Seawolves as UC San Diego dominated from the very beginning.   Errors were the critical factor for the Seawolves' loss ending the set with nine errors which has been unprecedented this season.  Along with the Seawolves struggling from the attacking line, the Tritons were almost untouchable as they had 14 kills with only two errors.

In the third and always important deciding third set, the Seawolves were the dominating team and the tables were flipped.   The Seawolves held the Tritons to a -.034  hitting percentage, while the home team had 15 kills and a .323 hitting percentage.  Libero Megan Bohorquez was instrumental from the serving line as she served a three and a seven point run, along with outside hitter Caiti Wiesner serving a six point run of her own were enough to put a strangle hold on UCSD and running away with a 25-11 win.

In what ended up being the final set of the match, there was more drama with scores tied 11 separate occasions.  With the score tied at 18-18 the Seawolves finally pulled away for the win with contributions all around on the team, and a final exclamation point by Wiesner who served an ace and gave the Seawolves a five point win.

Head Coach Bear Grassl said "On a very emotional night, it was great to show such composure and give such a great effort against an excellent opponent."

STATS OF INTEREST:

• Three players for the Seawolves had double-digit kills on the night -- senior middle Kelsey McIntire led the team with 15 kills and a team-leading hitting percentage of .400. Wiesner and Seitz both contributed with 13 kills.
• Four players on the Seawolves had double digit kills with libero Megan Bohorquez leading the team with 19.

 
UP NEXT:

The Seawolves are back in action Saturday night as they go against CCAA South Division foe Cal State San Marcos.  The Cougars are coming off of a 3-0 loss to San Francisco State on Friday night.  Game time is set for 7:00 PM at the Wolves' Den.