Volleyball falls 3-1 to East Bay, Harthun & Mataya All-Tournament
September 5, 2012
Jamie Foland
907-474-6807
Cal State East Bay shot over .300 for the match and had a combined 35 kills from Suzy Ni Xu and Hannah Bell en route to a 3-1 victory against the Alaska volleyball in the final match of the 2012 Flint Hills Resources Nanook Classic on Saturday night at the Patty Center.
The Pioneers improved to 2-1 after winning by set scores of 19-25, 25-20, 25-17 and 25-16 while the Nanooks fell to 2-1 on the year.
East Bay shot .305 (54-18-118) on the night due in large part to Ni Xu, who finished with a match-best 20 terminations, as well as Bell, who tallied 15 kills and 11 digs. Other notable CSUEB performers included Samantha Sieber, who notched a match-high 48 assists and Nicole Boyle, who had six kills and 15 digs, also a match high.
The Nanooks were led by freshmen outside hitters Ixchelle Oleson and Sam Harthun, who each had a team-best nine kills. Oleson shot particularly well for the second straight match, as she hit .296 (9-1-27), making just one error. Alaska also had production from senior outside hitter Reilly Stevens, who provided seven kills, and freshman setter Katlyn Mataya had 34 dimes and three service aces.
Alaska shot .202 (38-15-114) for the match and had six aces to nine service errors. It only had 37 digs as a team, while CSUEB tallied 52 as three produced double-digit dig totals. East Bay also outscored the 'Nooks on blocks, 9-6.
In the first set, Alaska trailed 14-12 but responded with four in a row to take a 16-14 advantage. East Bay kept it close, but with the set tied at 16, the Nanooks scored five of six to take a 21-17 lead. They used that lead to close out the set 25-19 and hold a 1-0 match lead.
The second set was also tight early, but leading 10-8, the Pioneers went on a 4-1 run to go up by five. Alaska never came closer than three as teams traded points and the visitors claimed a 25-20 set victory to tie it up at 1-1.
East Bay jumped all over the lead early in the third, opening with an 11-5 run to force Alaska into a timeout. The 'Nooks couldn't erase the early deficit as CSUEB's lead stretched to as many as nine at 21-12. It would claim set three by the count of 25-17 and the visiting squad took the 2-1 match advantage.
The offensive woes continued for Alaska into the fourth set as East Bay opened with a 6-1 surge. Alaska cut it back to four at 7-3, but soon the deficit was seven at 15-8. The Nanooks closed the gap slightly, getting to within five at 15-10, but the power of Ni Xu and Bell allowed East Bay to walk out set four with a 25-16 win as well as the match victory.
Findlay (2-1) won the Nanook Classic after winning the three-way tie-breaker, while East Bay was runner-up, Alaska was third and Notre Dame de Namur (0-3) took fourth place. UF's Danielle Taflinger was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament following the conclusion of the match.
Other members of the All-Tournament Team included: Nicole Boyle (East Bay), Brooke DeMiguel (NDNU), Sam Harthun (Alaska), Katlyn Mataya (Alaska), Suzy Ni Xu (East Bay) and Mackenzie Vorst (Findlay).
The Nanooks return to action next Thursday through Saturday when they head to Hawaii for a three-pack of matches against BYU-Hawaii, Chaminade and Hawaii Pacific.