It was an athletic showdown for Chico State this past weekend when four athletes picked up a CCAA weekly award for their outstanding performances, highlighting a strong start to their seasons.
During a successful 3-1 road trip, sophomore Claire Nordeen led the Wildcats’ stellar offense, earning her first FloCollege/CCAA setter of the week award.
At Cal Poly Humboldt’s Redwood Coast Classic, Nordeen collected 10 assists per set throughout the four matches along with 51 digs, 18 kills and a .278 hitting percentage.
Nordeen played a prominent role for the offense with 41 assists and 15 digs in their 3-1 win over Dominican, and she led the Wildcats with an excellent 45 assists, 18 digs, and three ace performance over Oklahoma Christian.
She closed out the weekend with 36 assists and 12 digs in the three set sweep against Jessup.
With Nordeen’s accomplishment, Chico State volleyball has earned their first conference weekly award since 2017.
The Wildcats extend their record to 4-3 and will start conference play against Cal Poly Pomona on Thursday and Cal State LA on Saturday with both start times at 5 p.m.
After a remarkable performance to start the men’s cross country season, junior Mario Giannini was selected as the FloCollege/CCAA Men’s Cross Country runner of the week.
Chico State competed at the Kim Duyst Invitational hosted by Stanislaus State on Saturday, where Giannini emerged as the top finisher for the team. He was second overall out of 214 runners in the 8k race with the time of 23:31, just three seconds shy of his career best.
The Wildcats took third overall behind Division I’s UC Davis and Cal, making them the top finisher Division II team in the meet.
This is Giannini’s second career CCAA runner of the week award. He was also named U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Division II Men’s National athlete of the week.
Chico State men’s cross country will participate in the Mike Johnson Classic on Sept. 27 hosted by Western Oregon.
Men’s golf kicked off the season with a strong win in the Wildcat Classic, with freshman Vineet Vallamsetty and senior Naoki Easterday sharing the FloCollege/CCAA golfers of the week.
The two golfers tied in first, both ending at 13 strokes under par. Easterday held a two-stroke lead after 36 holes, but Vallemsetty worked his way back in the final round with 13 birdies to earn the tie.
With their collective efforts, Chico State finished the tournament with a 10 stroke victory over Cal State East Bay.
Both Vallamsetty and Easterday tied the program’s lowest tournament score.
The men’s golf team will be back in competition at the Bishop Invitational in DuPont, Washington on Sept. 26 and 27.
For more information on Chico State athletics, visit the Wildcat home page.
Rebecca Gonzalez can be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].
