The SF State volleyball team ended its winless Saturday streak yesterday with a three set sweep over visiting Cal State Dominguez Hills.
The Gators came out ferocious in the first set, showing no signs of fatigue, and took an early 10-4 lead over the Toros. SF State played near-perfect volleyball and cruised to a 25-18 set win, which is something they’ve failed to do in back-to-back games all season long.
The second set saw more of the same with the Gators giving a strong performance both offensively and defensively. The women played as a cohesive unit with energy and speed, and the Gators dominated the set 25-10.
The Gators headed into halftime with a decisive 2-0 set lead over the Toros and a lot of momentum in what would be the team’s best Saturday performance this season.
“Coach told us that we needed to pick up our passing because it wasn’t up to our standards,” said SF State’s Arianna Cruz. “We tried to pick up passing, pick up blocking and finish strong as a team.”
CSU Dominguez Hills came out with more fight in the third set, giving the Gators a back and forth battle early on. The frame was evenly matched, and tied for most of the set before SF State went on a 13 to 7 run and put away the Toros for good.
The Gators won the set 25-19 and came away with the game in straight sets.
“I was very happy, we performed together as a team and played high discipled volleyball,” said Gator head coach Jill Muhe. “We were able to put two quality performances back to back which is something we’ve been working on.”
Prior to yesterday’s game, the Gators were 0-5 on Saturdays.
“I think one of the big things that helped was that we considered this a Tuesday, basically any other day besides a Saturday,” Cruz said. “It’s been a struggle for us to win on a Saturday so I think that really helped.”
The Gators now head on the road for four games against teams that all sit above them in the California Collegiate Athletic Association standings.
“We’ll try and keep the same mentality that we’ve had the past few days of staying focus on winning and not on the negative side of the game,” said sophomore Malia Muin.
