HAYWARD — Cal State East Bay delivered a commanding performance Friday night at Pioneer Gymnasium, sweeping Chico State 25-19, 25-23, 25-22 to extend its strong CCAA run and improve to 11-8 overall and 8-3 in conference play.
The Pioneers were firing on all cylinders offensively, defensively and from the service line, finishing with a .185 team hitting percentage while holding the Wildcats to just .089.
Jada Stone led the charge with a match-high 11 kills on a .409 hitting percentage while Barakat Adekola added 9 kills and Malayah Adams tacked on 8 kills. Setter Pi'ilani Carvalho ran a masterful offense, dishing out 32 assists while also delivering three service aces and adding two block assists.
Defensively, East Bay was relentless with Kale'a Kuamo'o recording a match-high 25 digs, anchoring a Pioneer defense that racked up 64 total digs.
Cal State East Bay came out firing in the opening frame, using a fast start to seize early momentum. The Pioneers caught fire behind Adams, who strung together multiple kills to fuel an 8-3 surge. Chico State closed the gap to 8-7, but East Bay responded to rebuild a comfortable cushion at 17-13. The Pioneers capitalized on Wildcat attack errors and a service ace from Gianna Navarro to push ahead 21-15. Adams and Fane Paua delivered late kills, and Adekola sealed the set at 25-19 with the final kill.
The Pioneers opened the second set with a service ace from Carvalho and surged to a 5-1 lead behind a block from Adams and Herrera and a kill from Adams. Chico State clawed back to tie the frame at 11-11, but the Pioneers responded with key kills from Adekola and Stone to regain the lead. With the set even at 23-23, CSUEB capitalized on a Chico attack error before Adekola put away the final kill, securing the 25-23 win and a 2-0 match lead.
In the final frame, Chico State led 4-1 before East Bay responded with kills from Stone and a Carvalho ace to go up 10-8. The Pioneers held a narrow lead behind key swings from Adams, Brooklynne Traficante, and Stone. With the score at 23-22, a block by Makaiya Gerhardt and Herrera, followed by kills from Stone and Gerhardt, closed out the 25-22 set and completed the sweep.
Cal State East Bay returns to action tomorrow night when they head to San Francisco State for another key CCAA contest.
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- Kuamo’o Collects her Second FloCollege/CCAA Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week awardCal State East Bay's Kale'a Kuamo'o has been voted the FloCollege/CCAA Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 13-19.
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- Pioneers Push Cal Poly Pomona to the Brink in Five-Set ThrillerHAYWARD, Calif. — Cal State East Bay went toe-to-toe with conference leader Cal Poly Pomona on Friday night at Pioneer Gymnasium, taking the match the full five sets before ultimately falling 3–2. The Pioneers fell 23–25, 26–24, 20–25, 25–21, 13–15 to snap a three match win streak and move to 8-9 overall and 5-3 in CCAA play.
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