LOS ANGELES – The regular season ended Saturday for the Chico State volleyball team, but the question remains: will the Wildcats live to play another day? A Chico State victory over Cal State L.A. would have greatly improved the Wildcats’ chances of claiming a West Region Tournament bid, but now Chico State’s postseason hopes are in the hands of the NCAA selection committee – despite winning the first set, the ’Cats were beaten by the Golden Eagles in four sets Saturday at the Eagles Nest by scores of 21-25, 25-23, 25-23 and 25-12.
The loss was a disappointing end to an impressive 23-9 season that saw Chico State finish fifth in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) with a 14-8 record. Cal State L.A., which occupied third place in the conference standings (17-5) and is assured one of the eight NCAA West Region Tournament berths, wrapped up its regular season with a 21-8 mark.
The Wildcats will find out whether they will be awarded a West Region bid tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. Pacific time, when the NCAA announces online the Tournament selections for all eight Division II regions at
www.ncaa.com.
Saturday began encouragingly when Chico State, on the strength of three Makenzie Snyder kills, jumped out to an early 5-2 lead in the opening set. Cal State L.A. hung close, but the Wildcats would never trail in the contest. With Chico State up 24-19, the Golden Eagles were able to stave off a pair of set points before Gillian Heydorff delivered the kill that gave the ’Cats the 25-21 victory.
Unfortunately for the Wildcats, that would be the evening’s high point, as Cal State L.A. came back to win two tightly played sets. Chico State led 14-9 in the second set, only to see the Golden Eagles go on an 11-5 run to go up 20-19. The Wildcats were able to pull even three times in the late stages, but with the score 23-all, Cal State L.A. posted back-to-back kills to grab the 25-23 victory.
The third set was a back-and-forth affair, with neither team leading by more than two points before the Golden Eagles got hot down the stretch. With Chico State up 17-16, Cal State L.A. reeled off six unanswered points to take a healthy 22-17 lead. The ’Cats responded with a 6-2 run (Snyder leading the way with three kills) to pull to within 24-23, but a Zuzana Cuzova killed provided the point the Golden Eagles needed to cement the 25-23 win.
Cal State L.A. took no prisoners in the finale, sending the Wildcats reeling by scoring the first seven points of the set. This time Chico State had no answer, and could get no closer than six points the rest of the way as the Golden Eagles rolled to the 25-12 win and the match.
Snyder topped the Chico State stat sheet with 24 kills and 14 digs in the losing effort, while Heydorff – playing possibly her final match as a Wildcat – notched her 58th career double-digit kill and 47th double-digit digs match with 15 and 18, respectively. Sable Villaescusa dished out 41 assists; Jessica Simms racked up 18 digs and Gigi Terlouw chipped in with 11 digs.
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