The Chico State women’s volleyball team opened the CCAA conference play on its home court Thursday against the reigning CCAA champions, the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos.
The Broncos, who were ranked #1 in the CCAA volleyball preseason poll, defeated the Wildcats in a sweep, with scores of 25-22, 25-17 and 26-16.
Although the Wildcats were taken down without winning a set, their heart and hustle kept the pressure on the Broncos, making them work hard for every point they scored.
The Wildcats offense outpaced their opponents, attacking 91 times while the Broncos made 87 of their own. The deciding factor was the accuracy; however, the Wildcats’ .209 hitting percentage wasn’t enough to outshine the Broncos’ .356.
With bodies hitting the court every play, the Wildcats’ fiery defense stayed engaged, maintaining a vocal and aggressive approach, despite playing from behind for most of the match. Senior defensive specialist Jessie Camarillo led that charge, picking up a team leading seven digs in the match.
The first set was played extremely close, neither team fell more than three points behind at any given time, leaving the crowd on the edge of their seats each time the ball was struck over the net. Using both of their timeouts in the set, the Wildcats tried to regroup in time to close the two-point gap, but it wasn’t enough to hold on in a nail-biting first set.
The second and third sets were not as closely played as the first. The Wildcats were unable to match the precision of their opponents attacks. Although they fell, the Wildcats never stayed down, fighting till the end as they held a 3-0 run as a last-ditch effort before losing the third and final set.
Sophomore setter and CCAA setter of the week Claire Nordeen picked up a solid 26 assists and led the team with a .750 hitting percentage. Junior outside hitter Maria Wahl led the team in both kills and points scored, with seven for both.
Despite the end result of the match, the Wildcats remain hopeful and aim to learn from the loss, looking to bounce back quickly.
“They were shaking a lot of balls when we would full-on swing, and we committed to each set,” Wahl said. “If we bring in that urgency and aggressiveness, I think we will do a lot better when it comes to offense.”
The Wildcats play again at 5 p.m on Saturday in Acker Gym against Cal State LA. The team seeks to earn their first conference win as well as their first home win of the season.
“I think this is exciting,” Nordeen said. “We really need to take advantage of the opportunity we have, we’re a great team and there’s a lot of other great teams in the conference, but we’re going to show out.”
Acker Gym grants free entry with a Chico State student ID card, or if students present their Canvas home page.
For information about all Chico State athletics, or to keep up with the game live, visit the Wildcat home page, or watch through FloSports.
Aiyana Curry can be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].
