TURLOCK, Calif.--- After opening the season with 10 consecutive matches away from home, Stan State returns to Ed & Bertha Fitzpatrick Arena this week to host a CCAA Pod Weekend. The Warriors (4-6, 1-2 CCAA) will make their 2026 home debut against San Francisco State on Thursday, Sept. 24, at 5 p.m. on Alopecia Awareness Night before facing Cal State East Bay on Saturday, Sept. 26, at 3 p.m. on Camper Reunion Day. San Francisco State and Cal State East Bay will meet Friday, Sept. 25, at 5 p.m. in the neutral-site match of the three-day pod.

Flowers Third in Career Victories
Lauren Flowers enters the CCAA Pod Weekend with a 67-55 (.549) record in her fifth season at the helm of the Stan State volleyball program following Saturday's four-set victory at Chico State. Flowers ranks third on Stan State's all-time coaching wins list, trailing Christina Lore (82) and Cindy Nikkel (78), while her .549 career winning percentage remains the highest of any head coach in program history.

During Flowers' tenure, Warriors have earned 16 All-CCAA honors, including 2024 CCAA Libero of the Year Gabby Rawson and 2024 CCAA Freshman of the Year Malia Tanksley. Rawson also earned AVCA All-America honors in 2024 along with First Team D2CCA All-West Region and AVCA All-West Region honors. Ellison Weaver was named the 2024 CCAA Tournament MVP and became the program's first AVCA National Player of the Week.

Flowers has guided the Warriors to three CCAA Tournament appearances in her first four seasons, highlighted by the program's first CCAA Tournament championship and first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2024. Stan State tied the then-program record with 19 victories in 2022 before establishing a new program record with 22 wins during its championship season in 2024.  The Warriors have also posted a 30-25 (.545) record at Fitzpatrick Arena over the previous four seasons under Flowers. Stan State went 10-8 at home in 2022, 6-8 in 2023, 8-5 in 2024 and 6-4 last season.

Weekend Recap
Stan State closed its season-opening 10-match road trip on a winning note Saturday with a four-set victory at Chico State, 25-12, 22-25, 25-20, 25-20. The victory improved the Warriors to 4-6 overall and 1-2 in the CCAA.
Emily Meyer recorded a career-high 16 kills while hitting .316, while Rylee Szyszka had 13 digs and a season-high four service aces. Stan State finished with a season-high 10 aces, hit .227 and held Chico State to a .119 hitting percentage. The Warriors also finished with 12 total blocks.

Warriors in Review
Through 10 matches, Stan State is hitting .192 while averaging 11.45 kills, 10.48 assists, 14.93 digs and 1.98 blocks per set. The Warriors have held their opponents to a .175 hitting percentage and have 657 digs compared to 651 by their opponents.

Lauren Gonzales leads the Warriors with 97 kills and has added 113 digs. Meyer has 91 kills, while Lauren Hamilton has 73 kills and leads Stan State with a .335 hitting percentage. Maggie Olson has 69 kills while hitting .279, with Fallon Freeman adding 56 kills while hitting .228.

Hamilton leads the Warriors at the net with 42 total blocks, including 13 solo blocks. Freeman has 20 total blocks, Irene London has 16 and Meyer has 14.  Reagan Wilkerson leads Stan State with 211 assists, while Ireland Avalos has 116. Leah Mendoza has a team-high 126 digs, followed by Gonzales with 113 and Szyszka with 102.

CCAA Leaders
Hamilton ranks among the CCAA's top five in two categories. She is fifth in hitting percentage at .335 with 73 kills and 16 errors in 170 attempts. Hamilton also ranks fourth in blocks, averaging 0.95 per set with 42 total blocks, including 13 solo blocks.

Wilkerson ranks eighth in the CCAA in assists, averaging 6.21 per set with 211 assists in 34 sets.

Seeing Double
Stan State has received double-double performances from four Warriors this season. Wilkerson has recorded four double-doubles, all coming consecutively during the Denton VolleyFest, and has six in her career. Her stretch was highlighted by a career-high 43 assists and 12 digs in the five-set victory over Southern Nazarene.

Gonzales has four double-doubles this season, including three during the Denton VolleyFest. Avalos has recorded three double-doubles as a Warrior, including both matches during the CCAA-opening weekend at Cal Poly Humboldt and Cal State Dominguez Hills. Szyszka added her first double-double against Cal State Dominguez Hills with 11 assists and 19 digs.

Alopecia Awareness Night
Thursday's home opener will be Alopecia Awareness Night at Fitzpatrick Arena. Alopecia areata is an autoimmune condition in which the immune system mistakenly attacks hair follicles, causing hair loss on the scalp, face or other areas of the body. It can affect anyone, and each person's experience with hair loss and regrowth is unique.

Stan State volleyball will recognize Alopecia Awareness and support those affected by the condition, including Warriors Ireland Avalos and Soraya Forbes.

Scouting San Francisco State
San Francisco State enters Thursday's match 3-7 overall and 1-3 in the CCAA. The Gators snapped a three-match losing streak Saturday with a four-set victory over Cal State LA, rebounding from a first-set loss to win the final three sets, 25-14, 26-24, 25-14.  San Francisco State is hitting .205 while averaging 11.63 kills, 10.94 assists, 15.86 digs and 1.56 blocks per set. Grace Witcher leads the Gators with 109 kills and averages 3.11 per set, while Aidan Goodrich has 105 kills and Alana Larson has 94 while hitting .278.

Melanie Hewlett directs the offense with 245 assists and averages 7.00 per set. McKenzie Anderson leads the Gators with 128 digs, while Goodrich has 94 and Witcher has 91. Lilly Rix leads San Francisco State at the net with 25 total blocks.

Stan State-San Francisco State Series
Thursday's match will be the first meeting between Stan State and San Francisco State since the Gators defeated the Warriors in five sets in the 2025 CCAA Tournament quarterfinals at Fitzpatrick Arena. Stan State won the opening set 25-16 and took a 2-1 match lead before San Francisco State rallied to win the final two sets, 25-22 and 15-9.

Several current Warriors contributed in that quarterfinal. Meyer finished with nine kills, 11 digs and four block assists, while Sydney Hoffman had seven kills and hit .385. Gonzales recorded three service aces, Wilkerson had eight assists and 11 digs, Freeman added four kills and two block assists, and Hamilton finished with three kills and four block assists.

The Gators also defeated Stan State in four sets during the 2025 regular season in San Francisco. San Francisco State has won the last two meetings between the teams.

The teams also met in the 2024 CCAA Tournament semifinals in Pomona, where Stan State defeated San Francisco State in four sets, 25-21, 15-25, 25-23, 25-18, to advance to the CCAA championship match for the first time in program history.

San Francisco State leads the series 24-9 since 2008. Stan State's most recent victory over the Gators came in the 2024 CCAA Tournament semifinal.

Scouting Cal State East Bay
Cal State East Bay enters the CCAA Pod Weekend 3-7 overall and 2-2 in the CCAA. The Pioneers split their two matches last weekend, defeating Cal State LA in four sets before falling to No. 15 Cal Poly Pomona in four sets.  Cal State East Bay is hitting .195 while averaging 12.00 kills, 11.05 assists, 15.77 digs, 1.82 blocks and 1.74 service aces per set. The Pioneers have 71 total blocks and 68 service aces through their first 10 matches.

Lamona Lauhingoa leads Cal State East Bay with 162 kills and is averaging 4.15 kills per set. Barakat Adekola has 107 kills and 109 digs, while Natali Herrera has 52 kills and is hitting a team-best .306 among the Pioneers' primary
attackers.

Pi'ilani Carvalho has a team-high 349 assists, averaging 8.95 per set, and has added 114 digs and a team-high 15 service aces. Kale'a Kuamo'o leads Cal State East Bay with 156 digs, averaging 4.00 per set. Carys Fouser leads the Pioneers at the net with 31 total blocks.

Stan State-Cal State East Bay Series
Cal State East Bay leads the series 22-19 since 2007, but Stan State has won seven of the last 10 meetings. The Warriors are 12-7 against Cal State East Bay at home during that span.

The teams met once last season, with Cal State East Bay defeating Stan State in five sets in Hayward. The Warriors won the opening set 25-20 and forced a deciding fifth set with a 25-14 victory in the fourth before Cal State East Bay won the fifth, 15-10.

Several current Warriors contributed in that match. Freeman finished with 10 kills and hit .233, while Meyer had eight kills and an ace. Wilkerson recorded 23 assists and 11 digs, Mendoza had a match-high 30 digs and Gonzales added seven digs.  Prior to that loss, Stan State had won three consecutive meetings against Cal State East Bay in 2024. The Warriors won in four sets on the road before sweeping Cal State East Bay, 27-25, 25-13, 27-25, in Turlock.

The teams met for a third time that season in the 2024 CCAA Tournament quarterfinals in Pomona, where Stan State swept Cal State East Bay 25-21, 25-21, 25-18. The Warriors held Cal State East Bay to a .097 hitting percentage and finished with eight service aces in the victory. Stan State went on to capture the program's first CCAA Tournament championship.

Saturday will be Cal State East Bay's first visit to Fitzpatrick Arena since Stan State's straight-set victory over the Pioneers in November 2024.

CCAA Sports on FloCollege
All three matches of the CCAA Pod Weekend at Fitzpatrick Arena will be streamed live on FloCollege. Fans can watch Stan State's home opener against San Francisco State on Thursday at 5 p.m., Friday's neutral-site match between San Francisco State and Cal State East Bay at 5 p.m., and Saturday's Stan State-Cal State East Bay match at 3 p.m.

Levi Flores and Michelle Stucker will be on the call for Stan State's matches against San Francisco State and Cal State East Bay.
CCAA Pod Weekend
Stan State's match against San Francisco State on Thursday begins three consecutive days of volleyball at Fitzpatrick Arena as part of the CCAA Pod Weekend. Cal State East Bay and San Francisco State will meet Friday at 5 p.m. before the Warriors face Cal State East Bay Saturday at 3 p.m. on Camper Reunion Day.

The matches during the CCAA Pod Weekend will not count toward the teams' CCAA records.

Up Next
Following the CCAA Pod Weekend, Stan State returns to conference play with a pair of road matches in the Bay Area. The Warriors will face San Francisco State on Friday, Oct. 2, at 5 p.m. in San Francisco before traveling to Cal State East Bay on Saturday, Oct. 3, for a 5 p.m. match in Hayward. Both matches will count toward the CCAA standings.

Stan State will return home the following weekend to host No. 15 Cal Poly Pomona on Friday, Oct. 9, at 5 p.m. before facing Cal State Los Angeles on Saturday, Oct. 10, at 2 p.m. for Dig Pink at Ed & Bertha Fitzpatrick Arena.