CSU East Bay women’s volleyball team fell at home to one of the top teams in the region, number four ranked Sonoma State, 3-1 as the Pioneers continue to find their identity.

The loss was the second 3-1 loss in a row for the Pioneers as well as the fourth straight loss to Sonoma State.

This defeat marks the fifth home loss of the season for the Pioneer women as they have already lost more home matches this year than all of last season.

The Pioneer squad has struggled all season after coming off a fifth place finish in the California Collegiate Athletic Association last season.

Four players have been out this season. Junior outside hitter Katie Allen, senior opposite hitter Morgan Hirzel and senior middle blocker Kitona Offord are out due to injury, which is forcing other players to fill these roles.

“Injuries have been a big thing.  I’ve had to deal with them myself.  We have to go out there and toughen up,” said team co-captain and senior opposite hitter Nicole Boyle.

From the onset of the match the Sonoma State Seawolves (14-6, 8-4) volleyball squad showed once again why they are the fourth-ranked team in the Western Region.

The Pioneers (7-12, 2-10) were hoping to build on their win against conference leader and Western Region number one ranked leader, CSU San Bernardino, in mid-October.

With new players adjusting to a new system of play, the Pioneers were short of anything but confidence after their last win. They came out with a fiery attitude and it seemed to be the driving force in trying to take it to Sonoma State.

The Seawolves, however, had other ideas with their quick, powerful and accurate strikes as the Pioneers struggled to take control on the back line during the first set.

Two Seawolves freshmen outside hitters, Madelyn Densberger and Caylie Seitz, took advantage of CSUEB’s soft defense and pounded the ball for a four kills a piece leading the Seawolves to a victory in the first set in spite of Pioneers’ team kills leader junior opposite hitter Suzy Ni Xu posting four kills to keep the score respectable 25-20.

Set two the Pioneers answered back to take Sonoma St. the distance by blocking at the net well, and finally regaining confidence on the back line.

This allowed the Pioneers to set up good blocking on the net and counter the Sonoma onslaught with powerful strikes of their own forcing Sonoma to burn timeouts early.  Ni Xu once again along with Boyle, would set up for 12 kills leading the Pioneers to take away a three-point advantage and take set two 29-27 on a senior opposite hitter Nikki Long kill.

Tragedy struck the Pioneers in the final two sets as the Seawolves seemed to adjust well and take complete control over the third set capitalizing on the same errors that drug the Pioneers down in the first set.

Lackluster defense on the back line and lack of successful digs gave the Seawolves a 25-18 score in the third set. CSUEB fought hard to come back in the fourth set as the improved digging forced the Seawolves into extra points, but the Pioneers just could not over their miscues at the net and saw themselves lose the fourth set 25-22.

“The more confidence they gain, the better they’re going to be.  They tend to play a little timid at times and all you need in that situation is a little swagger and bravado that carries you in these gritty games,” CSUEB head coach Jim Spagle said.

“Digging the volleyball was problematic tonight.  Our passing and digging was a bit off, which really kept us from running our offense the way we would prefer to.” he added.