Sports Update Nov. 9

Women's Volleyball Debuts at No. 5 in NCAA West Region Rankings
November 9, 2015

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

The Sonoma State women's volleyball team is looking to defend its NCAA Division II West Region title from a year ago, and according to the first official release of the NCAA West Region rankings on Nov. 4, the Seawolves are in line to qualify for their eighth straight NCAA tournament and to repeat as regional champions in 2015. The NCAA will continue to release updated regional rankings at NCAA.com every Wednesday afternoon leading up to the Nov. 23 announcement.

Sonoma State University junior middle blocker Rachel Andrews has been named the CCAA Volleyball Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 26-Nov. 1, it was announced by the conference office on Nov. 3. In the Seawolves' two wins last weekend, she recorded 24 points on 13 total blocks.

The Sonoma State women's volleyball team clinched at least a share of the CCAA title and secured the No. 1 seed in the inaugural CCAA Championship Tournament coming up in two weekends with Sunday's 3-0 sweep (25-21, 25-12, 25-14) over host Cal State San Marcos in San Marcos on Nov. 8. The 21st-ranked Seawolves have won 17 consecutive matches, improving to 21-3 overall and 17-1 in the CCAA.

The Sonoma State women's volleyball team continued its streak of success on Nov. 7, knocking off host Cal State L.A. in three sets (25-20, 27-25, 25-19) for its fifth straight win by way of a sweep.

Caylie Seitz led all players with 14 kills as the Sonoma State women's volleyball team cruised to its 15th straight win with a 3-0 sweep (26-24, 25-17, 25-19) over Cal State Dominguez Hills on Nov. 6 at the Torodome.

Women's Soccer

Despite holding a 15-8 shot advantage in the match, including a 10-4 output in the second half alone, the top-seeded Sonoma State women's soccer team was stunned by No. 4 seed UC San Diego in the semifinals of the 2015 CCAA Championship Tournament, 3-0, on Nov. 7 in Pomona, Calif.

MEN'S SOCCER

Four Sonoma State University men's soccer student-athletes have been named to the 2015 CCAA Men's Soccer All-Conference Teams, it was announced Nov. 5 at the CCAA Championship Banquet on the eve of the conference semifinals in Pomona, California. Senior forward Brenton Frame and senior midfielder Sean Callahan were selected to the All-CCAA Second Team while sophomore goalkeeper Mitch North and senior defender Dylan Stafford were Honorable Mentions.

TJ Perez gave the Sonoma State men's soccer team an early 1-0 lead, but Stanislaus State's Jose Ramirez scored three times in the second half to help the host and No. 4 seed Warriors defeat and eliminate the No. 5 seed Seawolves with a 3-1 decision on Nov. 3 at Warrior Stadium in Turlock.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

A jump shot by Taylor Acosta with three minutes remaining in the first half gave the Sonoma State women's basketball team a 12-point lead, but the offense fell cold, misfiring on 17 of its next 21 shots to allow the University of the Pacific to rally and defeat the Seawolves 63-51 on Nov. 7 at the Alex G. Spanos Center in Stockton.

MEN'S BASKETBALL

James Davis and Brandon Tillis dropped in nine points apiece against NCAA DI St. John's, and while it trailed by just seven points with 5:41 to play in the game, the Sonoma State men's basketball team couldn't get any closer in falling 64-46 on Nov. 7 in Queens, N.Y. Saturday's game served as the only exhibition contest for the Seawolves before they open up the regular season on Friday at Dominican in San Rafael. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY 

Maria Hurtado represented the Seawolves at the NCAA DII West Regional on Nov. 7. She shaved 44 seconds off of last year's time, crossing the line at 23:20.66 and placing 119th out of 192 runners as the lone representative for the Sonoma State women's cross country team at the Cross Country West Region Championships at Ash Creek Preserve in Monmouth, Ore.