The SF State women’s volleyball team will be a force to be reckoned with this season.

The Gators completed another outstanding weekend as they went 2-1 in the Westmont College Invitational in Santa Barbara to improve their record to 5-2.

The weekend started out great on Friday as the Gators completed a sweep against Westmont College and Dominican University.

In the first tournament game against Westmont, the Gators lost the first two games but stormed back to win the next three sets and secure the 22-25, 20-25, 25-23, 25-15, 15-12 victory.

The Gators dominated game two against Dominican as they defeated the Penguins 32-30, 25-5, 25-15 to extend their winning streak to five games.

“Being down 0-2 to a very good Westmont team and coming back to win in five is quite an accomplishment for such a young team,” SF State coach Michelle Patton said.

“Overall it was a great day for Gator volleyball.”

A minor setback occurred Saturday as the Gators win streak was snapped at the hands of second-ranked team in the nation in Cal Baptist. The Lancers defeated the Gators 25-20, 25-20, 23-25, 25-14.

“After losing two close games, it was good to see our girls battle back to win the third set against a very good Cal Baptist team,” Patton said.

“Even though we were not able to complete the comeback to win the match, we saw a lot of encouraging things from our young team that we can build on.”

Freshman setter Mary Maiocco, from Bakersfield High School, led the team this weekend with 81 assists.
“It was a good weekend,” Maiocco said.

Outside hitter and junior Beth Perkins led the team with 37 kills.

“We played really well together this weekend,” Perkins said. The power house outside hitter was named Athlete of the Week by SF State for the week of Sept. 1, for her performance in the Seawolf Spike Tournament.

After seven consecutive away games. the Gators’ didn’t disappoint their home fans as they swept Pacific Union College in three sets.

“We did a nice job tonight, and I was very proud of the way we served and how we really concentrated on our side of the ball,” said coach Patton.

Playing in front of a roaring home crowd for the first time this season, the Gators gave their fans a night to remember winning in impressive fashion 25-9, 25-8 and 25-7.

Freshman libero, Christina Johnson, from Elsinore High School in Wildomar, Calif. said, “We wanted to come out strong and win. We wanted to show everyone at State that the volleyball program is solid.”

With the win, the Gators record now stands at 6-2 and they begin California Collegiate Athletic Association play this weekend.

“It was encouraging for us to get off to such great start since we never played together before,” said Perkins.

The Gators square off with Cal Poly Pomona on Friday Sept. 12 for packed gym night. T-shirts will be given out to Gator fans.

The next home game is, Saturday, Sept. 13, the Gators will take on two-time defending conference champion and pre-season favorite Cal State San Bernardino. Play begins at 7 p.m. for both games.