Pioneers win fifth straight with sweep of Notre Dame de Namur
Jit Athwal recorded eight kills and hit at a .333 clip in the Pioneers' fifth straight victory. (Photo: Ron Allen)
- September 7, 2010
HAYWARD, Calif. - The Cal State East Bay women's volleyball team kept its undefeated record intact on Tuesday night, cruising to a 3-0 sweep of Notre Dame de Namur at Pioneer Gym. The Pioneers (5-0) posted 25-9, 25-23, and 25-13 wins to chalk up its fifth win ahead of this weekend's conference opener.
"We had a good performance tonight," CSUEB Head Coach Jim Spagle said. "A lot of people played and I felt we played well in the first and third sets. Mona Goudarzian and Jit Athwal had good matches while our three setters did a nice job."
Playing their home opener, the Pioneers jumped out of the gates to win the first set by a decisive 16-point margin. East Bay hit .348 in the first set, while holding the Argonauts to just five kills. Senior defensive specialist Katie Glomb did her part, laying down three aces and serving the first nine unanswered points for East Bay.
After jumping out to an early 14-8 lead in the second set, the Pioneers saw NDNU get back into the match with a 15-9 run to tie the score. With the game knotted at 23, Athwal put away East Bay's final two points on a kill and a solo block to close out the set and send the Pioneers into the break with a 2-0 lead.
The Pioneers never trailed in the third game, scoring six straight to open the set. Though NDNU closed the gap to five at 10-5, East Bay answered with a 12-5 run to take a 22-10 lead. Kills from Goudarzian, senior Roxanne Neely and sophomore Jade Sanford closed out the set and the match for the Pioneers.
Cara Crowder led the Pioneers offensively with nine kills. Athwal followed with eight putaways and Goudarzian, playing in her first match of the season, recorded five kills and hit for a .455 percentage. Setters K.C. Walsh and Amanda Limeberger had 14 and 11 assists respectively.
Notre Dame's Christina Villamayor recorded a double-double with 11 kills and 13 digs to lead the Argonauts. The loss drops NDNU to 1-3 on the year.
The Pioneerswill begin CCAA play this weekend with a pair of home matches against Sonoma State and Humboldt State on Sept. 10 and 11. Both matches will begin at 7 p.m. at Pioneer Gym.
"We have two tough CCAA matches coming up this weekend," Spagle said. "Sonoma State is one of the top teams in the CCAA while Humboldt State is much improved over last season. It's going to be a good weekend of volleyball."