In the first of back-to-back home games, the SF state women’s volleyball team was victorious against California State University Los Angeles, improving their conference record to 3-3 (5-8 overall).
The Gators started off slow, losing their first set of the night, but they soon found the rhythm that guided them to their third straight win.
Head coach Jill Muhe said her team quickly adjusted by limiting the same mistakes they made during their first set. “We just needed to cut down a little bit on our errors and work to get them a little bit more out of system,” Muhe said.
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The Gators did just that as they started the second set hot and kept up their newfound pace throughout the game. Players showed a will to win by diving for the ball and making every point they scored significant.
“I was very pleased with the energy from everyone on the court to our bench,” Muhe said. “I felt it was really fun and we performed at a high level throughout the game.”
One of the impact players of the night for SF State was outside hitter Taylor Brownlee, who credited her teammates serving pass game as the key to their victory. “We pass at a high level and that allowed us to take good first ball swing and terminate the opponent rally,” said Brownlee.
Brownlee collected a team-high of 21 kills and converted on 34 percent of her attack attempts. She said she wouldn’t have been able to put up great numbers if it wasn’t for her team giving her good shots.
“Our serving pass was awesome, that allowed our setter [Catherine Feather] to be balanced when she was setting, and she put up good balls that had bunch of options for me to throw some hits,” said Brownlee.
Outside hitter Jaclyn Clark also played a significant role in helping the Gators to victory. She had 19 kills while adding eight more digs to her career total.
“The way we transitioned and stayed composed on our side when L.A. was picking up a lot of balls, led us to create a lot of points that usually we weren’t able to do before,” said Clark.
With a short rest before their next game, Muhe plans to keep her players mentally prepared. “We have to start prepping immediately and hopefully get it done again tomorrow night.”
The Gators hope to get back-back wins as they will wrap up a three game home stand against Cal State Dominguez Hills on Sunday night.
