Volleyball: Road Warriors off to best start in 16 years

Like the men’s soccer team, the Stanislaus State volleyball team is off to a record start.

Unlike their cleated counterparts, though, these Warriors have had to mine all of their wins on the road.

Stanislaus State rolled through its nonconference schedule unscathed, matching its best start in 16 years. The Warriors were 6-0 heading into Tuesday’s California Collegiate Athletic Association opener against San Francisco State. A result wasn’t available by press time.

The last time the Warriors started a season 6-0, it was 1999 and they were beginning just their second season in the CCAA.

Stanislaus State’s long road trip to start the season has included stops at Notre Dame de Namur (3-1), Academy of Art (3-0), Dominican (3-2), Holy Names (3-0), Cal State Monterey Bay (3-0) and UC Merced (3-1).

The Warriors begin another three-game road swing Friday at Cal State Los Angeles, but will return home for two matches Sept. 25-26 against Humboldt State and Sonoma State, respectively.

Three players recorded double-digit kills in Stanislaus State’s victory over UC Merced. Taylor Massengale finished with 15 kills, Blair Ehrlich had 12 and Jocelyn Cervantes chipped in 11 as the Warriors enjoyed a season-best attacking percentage (.338).

Note – Beginning next year, the CCAA will compete in the West Region Crossover Tournament. The tournament also will include the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and Pacific West Conference. The 30-team tournament will allow its participants to boost their regional ranking and make stronger cases for an NCAA Division II Tournament selection. The CCAA has entered a three-year agreement with the other conferences, which will rotate hosting duties, with matches played at five sites.

Women’s soccer on target

It’s hard to imagine this is the same Stanislaus State women’s soccer team that struggled to finish in a shutout loss to Azusa Pacific in its season opener.

Since then, the Warriors have won four consecutive matches with an offense clicking on all cylinders. Stanislaus State has scored four goals in each of its victories, including 4-3 wins over Saint Martin’s and Central Washington during its recent Northwest trip.

Four players found the back of the net against Central Washington. Jordan Moineau, Kirsten Coleman, Jade Poon and Dani Rodriguez collected goals for the defending West Region champions.

Poon and Coleman had a productive trip. The Warriors’ leading scorers in 2014 tallied two goals apiece in an overtime victory over Saint Martin’s. The Warriors led the match 3-0 but needed a golden goal from Poon to escape with the win.

Stanislaus State played the final four minutes of regulation and the overtime period with just 10 players after drawing a red card.

Moineau leads the team in goals (four) and points (11). Poon also has four goals, while Rodriguez has a team-best five assists.

The Warriors begin CCAA play this weekend with a pair of home matches against San Francisco State and Cal State Monterey Bay on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

Fresno State Invitational

The Stanislaus State men’s and women’s cross country teams won head-to-head competitions at the Fresno State Invitational over the weekend.

The men defeated Cal State East Bay 21-34, while the women strode past Cal State East Bay (15-49) and Pacific Union (15-50).

Uriel Carlos was the top finisher for the Warrior men, covering the 5-kilometer course at Woodward Park in 19 minutes, 43 seconds. Gina Wood was the first non-Division I athlete to cross the women’s 4,200-meter course. She finished in 14:51.

Stanislaus State is scheduled to run at the Stanford Invitational on Sept. 26.

This story was originally published September 15, 2015 at 8:48 PM with the headline "Volleyball: Road Warriors off to best start in 16 years."