SAN BERNARDINO, CALIF. - On Thursday, November 19th, the Sonoma State women's volleyball team made their 12th CCAA Tournament appearance in the last 13 seasons, excluding the 2020 season, all coming under head coach
Bear Grassl. The Seawolves drew a favorable matchup and came into the match in good form as they had won four of their last five contests including a 3-1 victory over Cal State LA just one week earlier. With a win, SSU would advance to play the top seed Coyotes of Cal State San Bernardino and look to have another attempt at pulling off the improbable upset.
The first set saw back and forth action from both teams resulting in an early 5-5 tie. The Golden Eagles would then go on a 4-0 scoring run to grab an early 9-5 lead. As we saw in some of the last regular season games, Sonoma State was always capable of going on a run of their own to regain control of the match and that is exactly what they did next. The Seawolves responded with a 6-0 scoring run of their own to retake the lead 11-9. Three aces from
Brynna Slayton and two kills from senior amy Trephan would highlight the run. The back and forth action would resume as both teams played the first set all the way up to a 21-21 tie. After a kill from senior outside hitter
Emily Eaton, the game would be knotted at 23 as both teams looked for the final two points to secure the pivotal and momentous first set. Back to back kills, however, would seal the set for Cal State LA and give the Golden Eagles the 1-0 lead.
The intense and momentous first set would prove instrumental in the contest as the Seawolves momentum felt taken away and they would struggle to get it back for the remainder of the match. Cal State LA would go on to take the second and third set, 25-13 and 25-16 in dominant fashion, to put SSU away in just three sets. Grassl and his squad struggled to find their stride again in the second and third sets as LA really seemed to gain complete control after that opening set victory.
Emily Eaton would do what she does best and lead her team with 11 kills, good for second most amongst all players in the match. Unfortunately, Eaton would be the only Seawolf to record double digit kills in the contest and her efforts would not be enough to salvage a comeback.
Brynna Slayton led SSU with 3 aces on the night and
Jessie Hobbs led all players with 4 blocks.
Jenn Trephan and
Brynna Slayton both recorded double digit assists while libero
Riley Beyma led the team with 12 digs on the night. The Seawolves bounced back and forth above .500 all season long but finished with a successful conference campaign as they went 11-7 in CCAA play. That conference record would be the program;s best since the 2017 season. Three Seawolves were also named to the CCAA All-Conference teams. That story can be found
HERE. Below are some of SSU's statistical leaders on the 2021 season. Full season stats can be found
HERE:
SETS PLAYED:
Riley Beyma,
Kiana Richardson,
Brynna Slayton (102)
KILLS:
Kiana Richardson (307)
POINTS:
Emily Eaton (340.5)
ASSISTS:
Jenn Trephan (625)
DIGS:
Riley Beyma (367)
BLOCKS:
Jessie Hobbs (62)
ACES:
Jenn Trephan (50)
Congratulations to head coach
Bear Grassl and the Sonoma State volleyball program on a terrific season with great highlights including yet another CCAA Tournament appearance and three all-conference selections. Be sure to follow your Seawolves on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to get all the latest SSU athletics updates and information. @SonomaSeawolves #NomaNation
