Similar to last week's third match of a tournament, the Cal State Stanislaus volleyball team proved resilient in coming from behind to win a five-set thriller. This time the victim was Dominican on Saturday.
Trailing two sets to one, the Warriors responded by pulling out a win in the fourth to force the fifth and decisive set. In the end, Stanislaus beat Dominican, 15-25, 25-18, 21-25, 25-23, 15-12, in a morning match at the Seawolf Spike tournament hosted by Sonoma State.
In the afternoon showdown against Seattle Pacific, another highly regarded team from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, the Warriors lost 17-25, 25-13, 25-15, 25-23.
With a 1-3 record at the tournament, the Warriors complete the non-conference season with a 3-5 mark heading into the CCAA opener against Humboldt State on Friday.
The star on the day was Eva Chafeh, who scored 22 points in the win over Dominican. Chafeh put-away 16 kills on offense and defensively dug-up seven balls with seven blocks - five of them solo.
Andrea Fett added 15 kills and nine digs and Melissa Bishop chipped in 12 kills (with a .455 attacking percentage) with two blocks. Kendal Muñoz set a freshman-season best 46 assists. Ashley Pittman led the team with 21 digs.
Last Saturday at the Seaside Invitational, the Warriors beat host Pt. Loma Nazarene in similar fashion with exciting wins in the final two sets.
Against SPU (3-5), which received considering in the latest AVCA Top 25 coaches poll entering the tournament, Stanislaus grabbed the first set before the Falcons rallied to take three straight.
Fett led the Warriors with 12 kills, Chafeh added nine more to her totals on the day, Pittman picked up 14 digs and Jordan Harris had four blocks. Cailin Fellows had 21 kills for Seattle Pacific.
The CCAA opener versus Humboldt State is Friday night at 7 p.m. at the Ed & Bertha Fitzpatrick Arena.