ROHNERT PARK – The Chico State volleyball team came up just short of going undefeated in the Seawolf Spike Tournament this weekend in Rohnert Park – after posting two wins Friday to kick off the 2010 season, the Wildcats started off Saturday’s action with a four-set victory (25-22, 25-23, 24-26, 25-20) over Grand Canyon University before falling to Seattle Pacific 18-25, 11-25, 25-17, 25-16 in their afternoon finale at Sonoma State.
The loss left Chico State with a 3-1 record on the young season, while Seattle Pacific improved to 3-0. Makenzie Fahnestock led the Wildcats with nine kills against the Falcons while collecting a dozen digs; Jessica Leek had eight kills and eight digs, and Sable Villaescusa contributed to the losing effort with 30 assists and 10 digs.
Leek, just a sophomore, led the Wildcats with 55 kills and nine blocks on the weekend and earned All-Tournament team honors.
Seattle Pacific, fresh off an NCAA Championship Tournament appearance last season, won its first two games of the Seawolf Spike Tournament before going head-to-head against the ’Cats in a battle of unbeatens. The Falcons were very much the aggressor in the opening set, building a quick 13-8 lead; Chico State was able to close the gap to two, but with the score 21-18, Seattle Pacific posted the set’s final four points to win 25-18.
Seattle Pacific reeled off the first six points of the second set, and the Wildcats never recovered. Chico State could get no closer than four points of the Falcons the entire match, and a 15-6 run down the stretch gave SPU the easy 25-11 win.
Showing some grit, Chico State regrouped in the third set, erasing an early deficit to take a 13-12 lead. Seattle Pacific scored the next three points to go up 15-13, but the rest of the set belonged to the Wildcats, as Fahnestock produced three kills and Crystal Trifeletti added two more to key a 12-2 run and keep Chico State alive with a 25-17 victory. The ’Cats and Falcons played even through the first half of the fourth set, but Seattle Pacific took command by going on an 11-3 run to go up 22-14, eventually prevailing 25-16 to take the set and the match.
Earlier Saturday, Alex Shurtz turned in a big performance for the Wildcats against Grand Canyon, collecting a career-high 21 kills, while Leek and Fahnestock added 15 kills apiece. Villaescusa chimed in with 46 assists and 11 digs; Fahnestock and Jessica Simms had 11 and 10 digs respectively for the victorious Wildcats.
All four sets of the match were tightly played. The biggest lead for either team was just two points in the first set before Leek delivered the decisive kill to give Chico State the 25-22 win.
The Wildcats led most of the way in the second set, but fell behind 19-18 before scoring six of the last nine points to pull out the victory. Shurtz and Fahnestock each blasted a pair of kills down the stretch to power the ’Cats to the 25-23 win.
Chico State had to play catch-up throughout the third set, but briefly pulled ahead 23-22 before surrendering four of the next five points as Grand Canyon collected a 26-24 victory. The Wildcats took early control of the fourth and final set, building a 12-8 lead and never seeing their lead fall below two points the rest of the way. Shurtz, Leek and Fahnestock combined for 15 kills as the ’Cats took the set 25-20 and the match three sets to one. The win marked the first time Chico State has beat Grand Canyon in volleyball since 2006.
The Wildcats will take the rest of the Labor Day weekend off, but will be back in action Tuesday, playing their first home match of 2010 at the refurbished Acker Gym when they take on the Warriors of William Jessup University. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.
All-Tournament Team
MVP - Linsdsey Wodrick (Seattle Pacific)
Lauren Walsh (San Francisco State)
Lianne Vicchio (Cal State Stanislaus)
Jessica Leek (Chico State)
Nikki Lowell (Seattle Pacific)
Taylor Krenwinkel (Sonoma State)
