SAN DIEGO – The Simon Fraser University women's volleyball team lost both games Saturday in their final matches of the Seaside Invitational, falling 3-0 (26-24, 25-21, 25-29) to Azusa Pacific and 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-15, and 25-20) to UC San Diego at Golden Gym.
"Before the season started, I said it would take a bit of time for us to get used to the new mix of players we would have on the court and this tournament would be an opportunity for us to experiment with some different lineups," said Clan head coach
Gina Schmidt.
"We didn't get all the results we wanted but at times we played some very good volleyball. We now just need to work on sustaining that level of play for longer periods of time and the results will come."
Simon Fraser, coming off its best season and first NCAA post-season tournament appearance in program history, and picked to finish 5
th in the GNAC Coaches Poll, is off to a 1-3 start in 2017.
Clan junior
Tessa May was named to the All-Tournament team.
Azusa Pacific Cougars went 4-0 at the tournament winning against both SFU and Alaska Anchorage.
The Cougars flipped a 7-3 deficit into a 13-7 lead against the Clan. However, Simon Fraser rallied and eventually took the lead 21-20. But Azusa Pacific battled back and claimed the frame.
Azusa Pacific used a strong offensive attack to eek out a 2-0 lead. The Cougars hit .286 as a team and fought back from a late 20-19 deficit in taking command of the contest.
The Cougars took the lead for good in the final set after a Simon Fraser attack error handed Azusa Pacific a 9-8 edge. Azusa Pacific went ahead by as many as seven points (19-12) as they cruised down the stretch.
APU, which plays in the Pacific West Conference, had a 44-39 advantage in kills and hit at a .282 percentage while holding Simon Fraser to a .165 clip. APU had a 10-7 advantage in blocks and 41-36 edge in digs.
In the loss to UC San Diego in the morning, UCSD attacked at .272 (55-15-147) percentage while holding the Clan to a .172 (42-19-134) attack.
Freshman
Mia Ricci led Simon Fraser with 12 kills and
Jayme Bratsberg had a match-high 20 digs.
UC San Diego mounted a huge comeback in the opening set, erasing an eight-point deficit to take a 1-0 lead. The Tritons had the second frame tied at 23-23 before SFU scored two straight points to even the match at 1-1. With the score tied 14-14 in the third set, UCSD dominated the rest of the way, out-scoring the Clan 11-1. The fourth set stayed close until late. With the Tritons leading by just one, 19-18, they scored four unanswered points to essentially seal the match victory.
SFU opens Conference play on Mon., Sept. 11, at Northwest Nazarene in a rematch of last year's NCAA West Regional quarterfinals match. Simon Fraser will play two more conference games on the road before returning home to host the Montana State Billings Yellowjackets in the West Gym on September 23 at 5pm.
A season ticket to Clan Volleyball is $90 for 10 home games and available by emailing tickets@sfu.ca.
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