STOCKTON, Calif. - The Pacific volleyball team captured its second straight Central Cal Challenge title after downing Sacramento State 25-21, 24-26, 25-16, 25-9 on Saturday evening at the Alex G. Spanos Center. The Tigers move to 8-4 on the year ahead of Conference action set to start next week.
 
Sophomore Logan Blutreich recorded a season-best eight kills, while hitting a team leading .412 (8-1-17). But seniors Alexa Edwards and Biamba Kabengele defined the Tiger offensive attack. Edwards and Kabengele combined for 29 kills, while hitting .235 and .205 respectively. Junior Megan Nishimura tied a season-best 26 digs ahead of Pacific's defensive efforts.
 
The first set got off to a bit of a slow start for both the Tigers and the Hornets. Sacramento State played them close for nearly the duration, but a 6-2 run by Pacific towards the end let the Tigers take the first set 25-21.The Hornets then altered course, out-hitting the Tigers .217 to .154 to steal the second set 26-24.
 
But that didn't phase Pacific one bit. They came back into the third set ready to fight. Despite Sacramento State jumping out to a quick lead to start, the Tigers pulled within one and promptly rattled off a 6-1 run to overtake the lead, kick started by a Kabengele kill. From there, they never looked back, swiftly claiming the third set 25-16.
 
They entered the fourth set with a 2-1 advantage and the offense was even hotter than before. They hit a weekend set best .387, building upon the .212 hitting from the third. Pacific quickly jumped out to a 7-2 lead and the Hornets struggled to slow the fiery Tiger offense. Soon the Tigers climbed to a 15-7 lead, but they weren't done. They rattled off five kills back-to-back to reach 20 first. A 5-2 run closed the match, with an Edwards' kill sealing the Hornets fate 25-9.
 
"I think Sac State came out, especially in that second set, with the 'let's play some volleyball' mentality," head coach Greg Gibbons shared. "So we changed some things around and we were able to flip our rotation to give us some better matchups and it worked out. At the end of the day the girls chose to go at and win the serve and pass battle. I thought they did a great job picking up our level of play and they took care of business."
 
Fresno State (6-5) took down CSU Bakersfield (4-8) 25-13, 25-27, 22-25, 25-19, 15-2 to open the final day of the Central Cal Challenge with a 3-2 win. Pacific went perfect on the weekend, earning wins against all three visitors to remain perfect at home.

Central Cal Challenge All-Tournament Team
MVP: Biamba Kabengele, Pacific

All-Tournament:
Alexa Edwards, Pacific
Ramonni Cook, Pacific
Grace Doyle, Fresno State
Addison Haluska, Fresno State
Kalani Hayes, Sacramento State
Breklyn Pulling, CSU Bakersfield