Chico State volleyball bounces back from a miserable opening weekend with a five set win against Stanislaus State on Wednesday. This five set thriller was just the type of win the team needed to get their season back on track after going 0-6 in sets over their 0-2 weekend.
The Wildcats def. Stanislaus State 25-20, 25-27, 20-25, 25-14, 15-9. With incredible performances from: Bekah Boyle leading the way with 22 kills, Nicole Desrochers with 56 assists, Brooke Fogel with 21 digs and freshman Kennedy Rice with 19 kills.
When the first set was won, the relief wasn’t felt for long. The horrible weekend looked like it might have just taken a one set break after the Wildcats dropped the second and third sets. Only for the Wildcats to rally back and win the last two sets outscoring the Warriors 40-23.
“Coming off an 0-6 weekend doesn’t feel good,” Boyle said. “I’ll take any win I can get. A win in five almost feels better, overcoming that adversity and coming together in those last two sets feels better for a team.”
Despite the overall height advantage of the Warriors, Chico State was able to limit Stanislaus to .215% in attacking and 67 points as a team. While the Wildcats went .297% in attacking and 86 points as a team.
“We’re not built super big. But I always tell people they’re either big or they’re slow and we’re either short or we’re fast,” Coach Cody Hein said. “We like to make it a speed game instead of a size game. The only way to do that is by passing well, it opens up everything else for us.”
Chico State volleyball hopes to continue winning with a game this Saturday against California State University Monterey Bay at Seaside at 5 p.m. This is an essential game against a division rival who made the California Collegiate Athletic Association playoffs last year. That would bump the Wildcats to 2-2 in the CCAA North Division and 9-3 overall on the year.
“I feel good about our next game. Monterey is notorious for being a scrappy team and I think we proved tonight that we’re more scrappy,” Fogel said. “We’re ready to go down there and give them a battle.”
Ricardo Tovar can be reached at [email protected] or @rtovarg13 on Twitter.