The Chico State volleyball team found its rhythm on Saturday, sweeping Cal State San Marcos at home in dominant fashion to secure its first conference win.
In the first set, the Cougars started with a kill by middle blocker Blayne Seligmiller. The Wildcats responded by delivering kill after kill by setter Claire Nordeen, outside hitter Maria Wahl, opposite hitter Cashe Olswang, outside hitter Sophia Heller, and middle hitter Gwyneth Wentzel.
Both teams had many attack attempts. The Cougars ended the match with 37 and the Wildcats with 39, but Chico State was much more efficient with their opportunities.
Chico State’s offense showed major improvement, hitting .205 on Saturday compared to just .096 in its loss against Cal State San Bernardino on Thursday.
In a tight, back-and-forth first set, the Wildcats and the Cougars tied three times in a row starting from 23-23. After a timeout, Nordeen and Cougar middle blocker Jules Tindall both made a kill, drawing it at 24-24.
After Wentzel made another kill, Cougar middle blocker Blayne Seligmiller immediately responded with her own, evening the score again at 25-25. Finally, Wahl crushed the ball, ending the tie and the first set at 27-25.
“We were committing on the outside, because a lot of the sets were going to the outside, so we had two blockers over there, and just like, trusting those blockers to get good touches and good blocks really helped our defense,” said Wahl.
The Wildcats maintained a comfortable lead in the second set with 12 kills, and continued with no service errors. The Cougars, though, had two service errors, and one ball handling error.
The Wildcats controlled the net with three blocks against the Cougars, who only managed one block the whole set.
“We came in with a game plan, so having to watch film and just knowing what we needed to do on our side, because a lot of everything is controlled by us, like making our serves,” said Olswang.
The Wildcats had four service aces during the second set, with three of those by defensive specialist Jessie Camarillo. Meanwhile the Cougars managed zero service aces. The Wildcats ended the second set at 25-17.
During the third set, the Wildcats’ offense exploded to a 7-0 lead with seven service aces and six blocks.
Both teams had one service error in the set, but the play was clean otherwise with neither team having a ball handling error.
The Cougars, at one point, nearly all accidentally watch a free ball drop before them, with only one of their teammates, Cougar’s setter Blair Keith, diving for the ball in the back row.
The Wildcats and the Cougars had seven kills in a row by the end of the third set. Three were finished by the Wildcats outside hitters Heller, Wentzel, and Nordeen. One was scored by middle hitter Catalina Trautner, and all three kills were finished by Seligmiller for the Cougars.
After just being subbed in, Trautner tallied another kill for the Wildcats, making the 23rd point.
“Having the team be doing great at passing and Claire [Nordeen] putting up great sets, I felt like it made it easier for me to get into a rhythm, get good kills, blocks and stuff. The middles were all working together, so when we set up the blocks, they closed it, and that’s why we got so many blocks tonight, because we were just working together,” said Olswang.
For information about all Chico State athletics or to keep up with the game live, visit the Wildcat home page, or watch through FloSports.
Malisse Busby can be reached at [email protected]. or [email protected].
