ROHNERT PARK -- The Sonoma State volleyball team remains unbeaten in conference play as it defeated archrival Chico State, 3-1, by the scores of (26-24, 24-26, 25-21, 25-19. The Seawolves improve their overall record to 11-3 and 5-0 in conference as the Wildcats drop to 7-8 overall and now a conference record of 1-4.

In what was a marquee match-up of top teams in the North Division of the CCAA ended up living up to its billing with great play on both sides.  In set number one Chico State had a 21-18 lead but some inspirational play by the Seawolves made the difference.  A huge block by Junior Morgan Annala, and Senior outside hitter Calan Seitz forced the Wildcats to call the first of their two time outs, followed by a kill by Sophomore outside hitter Caiti Wiesner, and another block this time by Freshman right side hitter Amy Trephan, and once again, Annala tied the score at 21-21, and forcing Chico State to call their second and final timeout of the set.  

At 23-23 things didn't look good at Chico State aced the Seawolves, forcing the home team to call their final timeout, and now were at set point. Annala found a hole in the block and she cut and crushed the ball through the blockers and defenders. It was now time for the Seawolves who once again came up with another big block this time by Wiesner, and then another block by Senior middle Hitter Kelsey McIntire and Trephan. These blocks in the first set led to the fifteen on the night which is their highest number this season.

With momentum on their side Sonoma State did not use this advantage and were quickly down 11-4,  Sonoma State hit poorly in the set .050 for the set, but were lucky enough to hold Chico State to a .086 average.  Sonoma State chipped away at Chico State and tied the match at 23-23.  With thing going the Seawolves way, and looking for another win a kill by opposite hitter Kelley Jacome for the Wildcats, and a hitting error by the Seawolves eliminated the possibility of being up 2-0.

After the ten minute intermission the third set was a battle but once again Chico State jumped out to an 8-3 lead.  Sonoma State came back and tied the set at 19-19, but this time the Seawolves stormed forward and never looked back.  Wiesner led the group with four kills on her attempts on the set, while also leading her team to a .323 hitting percentage.    Chico State suffered the serving jitters on the road by handing the Seawolves four service errors in the match, which led to a 10-2 run to close out the match for the home team.

Finally in game four the Seawolves finally broke out earlier in the set and the visitors started to crack by a number of serve receiving and ball handling errors.  The Seawolves tallied four of their seven aces in the last set, three by Wiesner alone.   The fourth set was led by Seitz who had five kills on six swings, and this was more than enough to send the visitors packing.

After the match, Head Coach Bear Grassl commented "It was a great team effort tonight. Chico is a well coached and great on defense. We kept our composure after fighting through the first two sets to finally attack with more confidence in games three and four. Our serving finally broke through in the fourth set which was the difference."

Sonoma State finished with three players with double digit kills on the evening, but more important it was the defense having four players with double digit digs for the match.  Sophomore defensive specialists Lexi Mudd, Megan Bohorquez, Ashleigh Phelps, and Wiesner all made sure the ball was not going to hit the floor on the night.

Sonoma State now sets its sights on Stanislaus State which comes to The Wolves' Den on Saturday night.  The Warriors come to town with an 0-13 record but have lost their last two matches in five sets (versus Cal State San Marcos and San Francisco State).   Game time is set for 7:00 P.M.