On the inaugural day of the 2017 preseason the Stanislaus State volleyball team fell to no. 5 Winona State (0-3) and no. 22 Concordia-Irvine (0-3) at the Concordia Labor Day Invitational held at the CU Arena in Irvine, Calif. on Friday.
 
Playing their first nationally ranked team of the season the Warriors lost to Winona State 15-25, 16-25, and 11-25 earlier this morning. In match two of the day Stan State improved with 21-25, 20-25, and 22-25 losses against Concordia-Irvine. The Warriors are now 0-2 while Winona and Concordia are each 1-0.
 
Against Winona, Morgan Miller led the Warriors' offense with seven kills. In the back row Breanna Cannon led the team with 10 digs and Chelsey Berry and Sara Schell each dug seven. Running a 6-2 offense Jordan Tilley earned 10 assists and Cannon earned eight.
 
In game two of the day Schell was the Warriors' kill leader with 10 kills, and Murphy snagged another seven. Libero Kaitlyn Iwamoto ran Stan State's defense with 14 digs, and Cannon and Murphy each dug eight. Cannon also ran the Warrior's offense with 17 assists.
 
Stan State struggled to earn quick side outs giving up 16 runs of three or more points at a time during their two matches. In the tournament's opening match the Warriors' held the lead until Winona tied game one at 7-7. From there, numerous point runs put Winona ahead, and two six-point runs in sets two (0-6) and three (6-17) gave Winona the match.
 
In match two Stan State went on a five-point run at the end of set one (20-22) to close the point gap before the Eagles took the set, and seven Concordia runs of three or more points in sets two and three gave the Eagles their victory.  
 
Against Winona State Danielle Rampart led with 10 kills. Becca Pagel had 15 digs and McKenna Larsen followed with 12 digs. Larsen also led the Winona's offense with 25 assists.
 
Rachel Flynn was the Eagles kill leader with 12 kills and Madeline Deters led the match with 18 digs. Erica Anthony ran Concordia-Irvine's offense with 23 assists.  
 
Stan State will finish out the invitational with matches against California Baptist and McKendree tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.