TURLOCK – In its conference home opening match on Friday night the Stanislaus State volleyball team fell to Cal State Dominguez Hills in a four-set battle at Ed & Bertha Fitzpatrick Arena.
 
In a tough season commencing match the Warriors fell 19-25 and 18-25 in sets one and two before rallying back to take set three 25-15. In the decisive set Stan State was able to keep their chances of victory alive beyond the 25-point mark before falling 27-29. The Warriors are now 0-9, 0-1 in the CCAA and the Toros advance to 5-4, 1-0 in conference.
 
Rachel Klopfer led the Warriors offense with 11 kills and four aces and contributed 13 digs in the back row. Breanna Cannon led Stan State's defense with 16 digs and Sierra Adams tallied four blocks for the Warriors. Jordan Tilley guided the team's offense with 20 assists and Cannon followed with 13 assists.
 
Once again Stan State defeated themselves, giving up 34 points in hitting errors. Improving at the service line, the Warriors earned eight aces to a mere two service errors. Stan State out-dug the Toros 74-71 but couldn't hold up offensively with 40 kills to CSUDH's 53 kills.
 
Starting out the match the Warriors were unable to grasp the lead in sets one and two. A swift turnaround in set three inspired by minimal errors and multiple point runs gave Stan State their ten-point lead, earning them the win and another chance to fight for the victory.
 
Stan State put up a tough fight in set four, with an attack error by the Toros and a kill by Rebecca Conley granting the Warriors two set-points in the heat of the battle. Unable to hold up to CSUDH's demanding offense, three consecutive Toro kills decided the match.
 
Bridget Heins and Claire Autry led the Toros with 13 kills apiece and Rylee Kiger ran the offense with 33 assists. Lynda Nguyen was CSUDH's leading defender with 28 digs.
 
The Warriors will be back at home tomorrow evening at 7 p.m. to host Cal State L.A. at Fitzpatrick Arena.