TURLOCK — Good teams find a way to win when it was challenged and the Stanislaus State Warriors did that Saturday night.
Pushed by Holy Names, the Warriors rallied to fight-off a scrappy Hawks team to post a four set, 25-15, 25-9, 21-5, 25-23 victory Saturday night. The win propelled the Warriors to a perfect 4-0 record, the best among six teams in this pod of the D2 West Region Volleyball Showcase.
TOP PERFORMANCES
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Macky Morris led the way with 14 kills and 10 digs as she played in all four sets. She also had two aces and two block assists to account for 17 points.
• In three sets,
Yisel Perez put-away eight kills, going 8 for 18 with just one error for a .389 percentage.
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Rachel Klopfer chipped in eight kills and led with 13 digs.
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Jordon Wilson had seven kills and two blocks.
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Kiara Erving was the top blocker with four.
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Eyriana Eatmon, who made her first start at setter, dished 17 assists.
Breanna Cannon had 25 assists.
KEY MOMENTS OF THE MATCH
• After easily disposing the Hawks 25-15 and 25-9 in the first two sets, the Warriors were surprised by Holy Names in set three. The Hawks took advantage of some line-up changes, gained momentum and confidence to battle the host team.
• After the Hawks took off to a 5-0 lead in the fourth, the Warriors responded with seven of next eight points.
• Trailing 21-16 in the fourth, Stan State went on an 8-1 run to take a 24-22 lead. Perez capped the rally with her third kills of the set and ended the match with another kill after HNU got within one point.
• Stan State dominated set two by hitting .522.
ALL-TOURNAMENT WARRIORS
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Yisel Perez was named to the All-Tournament team from this pod. She was the Stan State leader and most proficient player on offense. Perez hit a tournament-best .462 with 36 kills on 65 swings with just six errors. Her 3.00 kills per set was third best. She also chipped in five blocks.
• Also on the All-Tournament team is libero
Krista Hernandez. She helped the Warriors offense with great passing and led the tournament with eight service aces. Hernandez had 53 digs for 4.42 digs per set.
QUOTE FROM HEAD COACH MALLORI GIBSON-ROSSI
"I am extremely happy with how our team battled this weekend. We show a lot of heart and perseverance. I am excited to continue this momentum going into conference play next week.
"The West Region Showcase was a great experience for our team. It showed how we stack up against some of the other powerful teams in our region. Being able to host the tournament was a bonus and we appreciate how the campus community came out to support us this weekend."
TOURNAMENT NOTES:
• Northwest Nazarene and Sonoma State each went 3-1 with NNU winning the head-to-head match-up. Western Oregon was 2-2, losing both matches against the CCAA teams. Notre Dame de Namur and Holy Names were both 0-4.
• Sonoma State's Jenn Trephan was also named to the All-Tournament team from this pod. She was a good well rounded consistent player with 99 assists (7.07) as a split-time setter for the Seawolves. She also hit .380 (23 kills) with 41 digs and nine total blocks. Trephan also had five aces. She's in the top 10 in all of these statistical category.
• The fourth member of the All-Tournament team from this pod is Abby Blum of Northwest Nazarene. She led the tournament with 59 kills and 3.69 kills per set (.289 percentage). She had 30 kills in the five-set win over Notre Dame de Namur.
UP NEXT
The Warriors open California Collegiate Athletic Association play on Wednesday when they host Chico State. The match is at 7 p.m. in Fitzpatrick Arena.
