TURLOCK — With a postseason berth up for grabs, Friday's battle between the Stanislaus State and Sonoma State volleyball teams lived up to its billing. Momentum swung wildly both ways, with the Seawolves surging to a 3-1 (25-21, 15-25, 25-12, 26-24) California Collegiate Athletic Association win at Fitzpatrick Arena.
 
The Warriors (11-12, 7-8 CCAA) and the Seawolves (10-11, 8-6 CCAA) entered the night within a half-game of each other for the sixth and final CCAA Tournament spot and with only two weeks left in the regular season – setting up Friday's match as a pivotal one for both teams.
 
The teams traded big momentum swings in just the first set by itself, then traded big wins in sets two and three, and then battled it out with 11 tie scores and eight lead changes in the fourth. It took a late push in the fourth from Sonoma State to stave off the Warriors tying the match at 2-2 and forcing a fifth set.
 
Mariah Iosua posted a double-double with a team and season-best 10 kills and a season-high 14 digs. Haley Burdo led the team with 23 assists and also had six digs and two aces. Kiara Erving hit a team-high .429 with seven kills.
 
The Seawolves had three players with double-digit kills, led by Kiana Richardson's 15. Setter Jen Trephan had 30 assists and 16 digs for a double-double, and also had a match-high five service aces to go with two blocks and two kills.
 
"Tonight was an unfortunate loss for us," said Stanislaus State interim head coach Maci Murdock. "It came down to serving and passing. Sonoma is a tough serving team so we really struggled with our passing. I thought we hit well tonight and was proud to see us swinging aggressive at the net. We need to make sure we keep it simple with our serve-receive and focus on our passing for tomorrow."
 
The momentum was already swinging back and forth in the first set alone. Stan State started hot out of the gate, taking an 18-10 lead and looking to grab an early match advantage. But Sonoma State charged back with an improbable 15-3 run to win the first, 25-21. That run included seven kills and four service aces.
 
The Warriors made absolutely sure the same wouldn't happen in the second set, running out to an impressive 9-0 and 11-2 advantage in set two. They pushed that all the way to 19-9 with a 7-2 stretch later on, and also scored the final three points of the set to easily put away the Seawolves, 25-15, and even the match at 1-1.
 
Sonoma State earned its own easy win in set three, 25-12, to go back up, 2-1, and back came Stanislaus State in the fourth by taking 16-12 and 19-16 leads, looking to tie the match. The Warriors and Seawolves traded points back and forth to get to a 21-18 lead for Stan State. But the Seawolves had another big comeback in them. They would go on an 8-3 run to come from behind and win the fourth, 26-24, staving off a fifth and deciding set. The Warriors had gotten to a 24-22 lead, but the Seawolves won each of the next two set points to tie it at 24-24, then got a service ace and a Stan State attack error to clinch the win.
 
Stanislaus State hosts Humboldt State in its final home match of the regular season, where it will honor six seniors on Senior Day. Fans can purchase tickets and find all live coverage links on WarriorAthletics.com.