San Francisco State University’s women’s volleyball team defended “The Swamp” against California State University, Los Angeles with a 3-1 victory on Oct. 26.

The Gators entered the matchup 10-24 against their cross-state opponents, the CSULA Golden Eagles, who are ranked no. 21 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association this season. The Gators’ all-time home record against the Golden Eagles is 7-11.

Senior outside hitter Izzy Issak said the matches against their cross-state conference opponents add a different kind of weight on the teams’ shoulders.

“There’s always added pressure. We’re always two really good teams in the conference,” Issak said. “We always get a really big crowd when we play them.”

The Golden Eagles began the game by going ahead 3-1 and held onto their lead through the first half of the first set.

After two good chances to strike by the Gators with a kill attempt and a bump, CSULA ended up with a point to make the lead 10-5.

CSULA had a 13-7 lead but the Gators responded with a 5-0 scoring run to cut the deficit to 13-12. The Gators made it a close set once again after the Golden Eagles expanded on their lead.

The first set was anyone’s game when both teams were tied at 24. The Gators had their first clutch moment of the day when junior right-side hitter Tamiya Wilson scored two kills to win the set 26-24. Both kills were assisted by senior setter Kimberly DeBoer.

The second set saw the Gators get off to a 3-1 advantage to start until the Golden Eagles responded with a 5-0 run to gain a 6-3 lead.

The Gators remained close with their visitors with the first tie of the set at 9-9 after a kill by Wilson which was assisted by Kimberly DeBoer. The second time the Gators tied the game was at 19-19 after a service ace by senior defensive specialist Brianna DeBoer.

After 2 p.m., members of the SFSU men’s soccer team arrived to support the volleyball team and partook in the “Beat LA” chants that echoed throughout the gym.

The Gators took charge to begin the third set with a three-point lead, which led to the biggest set win for the home team.

Two kills by Wilson and a service error by the Golden Eagles led to a 3-0 start in the third set. The Golden Eagles came back to tie the game at 5-5, but the Gators regained their three-point lead with three kills in a row by middle blocker Anastacia Garza.

The Golden Eagles were close to tying the set with a one-point deficit at 11-10, but the Gators’ lead grew to 15-10 in response. The home team responded with two service aces by Alana Larson, a kill by Wilson and a service error from the visitors.

Three service aces, three kills and two Golden Eagles service errors led to an 8-0 surge for the Gators, including an ace by Wilson that rolled just over the net and stunned the Golden Eagles. That ace grew the Gators’ lead to 24-14.

“I was really putting everything I got out there,” Wilson said. “I was really trying to help my teammates out by just being the best I could in every situation.”

With one point away, the Gators’ momentum temporarily slipped after errors from Wilson and Aidan Goodrich, but they were able to seal the set with a kill by Kimberly DeBoer off of a set by Goodrich. The Gators won the third set 25-18 and led their ranked opponents two sets to one.

The fourth set began with a 4-3 Eagles lead and a temporary injury scare when Issak went to avoid the ball that went out of bounds but sprained her ankle in the process. While she was bandaged up by athletic trainer Kelvin Chiu, Larson was subbed into the match. Issak would later return to play in the fourth set.

Kimberly DeBoer said when Larson subbed in for Issak, the team believed in her being there for their key clutch moments of the match.

“No matter who’s on the court, we trust each other and we trust our team,” DeBoer said. We’re always able to help each other out and I think that was the epitome of that moment.”

The Golden Eagles’ run of four consecutive points carried them from a 6-5 deficit to a 9-6 lead. The return aided CSULA’s ability to have a lead throughout much of the set while the Gators were barely able to have a one-point lead over them.

A second scoring surge by the Golden Eagles came off of a kill and a service ace by senior right-side hitter Emily Elliott and two attack errors by the Gators.

Both teams exchanged two points each off of three kills and an attack error by the Gators, which set up the Golden Eagles to lead 24-21, one point away from a set victory.

When it came down to the final set point for the visiting team, the Gators responded fiercely. After the Gators scored two kills, a service ace and gained from two errors by the Golden Eagles, they won the set 26-24 and the match three sets to one set.

Senior defensive specialist Cynthia Beall came in for the Gators’ final moments as she served the ball for the final four points of the Gators’ comeback.

“Cynthia went back there and did a great job of hitting her spots with her serve and made it really hard on them,” said Matt Hoffman, SFSU women’s volleyball head coach.

Kimberly DeBoer said the team demonstrated a great ability to focus and support one another in the moments when the team was facing deficits.

“We continued to trust in the things that make us, us,” DeBoer said. “No matter what was happening on the other side of the net, we continued to just focus on doing our jobs for that next point.”

The crowd was more fanatic and powerful as each point in the final moments led to victory for the home team. Their voices amplified when the Gators found their match point.

Hoffman said the team did well in preparing ahead of Saturday’s match and was pleased with their performance when it mattered most. Hoffman also complimented Larson for stepping in for Issak and the team when the moment counted on her.

“It was good to see us handle that moment and still not let it affect us,” Hoffman said. “Alan Larson, who came in, did a great job of being the next person up and we didn’t really skip a beat.”

Issak said Beall and Larson made an impactful performance when she was temporarily benched out for an injury.

“It’s just the beauty of team sports. We have so many amazing volleyball players on the team and we have so many different people who stepped up during that match,” Issak said. “Everyone contributed, even if one person isn’t having a good game, everyone else picks them up.”

Wilson said the Gators were unaffected by the score when the team faced deficits in each set.

“We just had to not think about the doubts and the down points,” Wilson said. “Any time we were down, we just had to focus on being strong and doing better and doing everything we could to keep doing that.”

Hoffman said the Gators pushed for strong serves and to play clean against the Golden Eagles, which would put their opponents “out of system.”

“We were just trying to serve tough to get them to pass the ball off the net and have to win from setting from deeper in their court,” Hoffman said. “There’s things to improve on, but when it mattered to get the job done, we did a good job when the moment happened and I am definitely happy with the way we performed as a whole.”

The Gators will host the Wildcats from California State University, Chico on Oct. 31 for the third game of their four-game homestand.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated for accuracy.