#4 Wayne State 3 California State East Bay 1

            The trio of Taya Beller, Maggie Brahmer and Kelsie Cada combined for 53 of Wayne State's 60 kills as the #4 Wildcats surged late to beat California State East Bay 25-27, 25-22, 25-12, 25-11 at the Golden Eagle Invitational held in Irvine, California.  It was the season opener for the Wildcats, now 1-0, while the Pioneers are 2-1 on the season.
            The opening set saw California State East Bay rally from a 16-12 deficit to down the 'Cats 27-25.  WSC hit just .169 in the set with seven attack errors.  Beller and Brahmer each posted five kills to lead WSC in the opening set.
            The second set featured 13 ties and just one lead change until WSC took control late in the set for a 25-22 victory. 
            With WSC trailing 17-15, the 'Cats used a solo block by Beller along with a block from Beller and Channatee Robles followed by a Jordie Nekl service ace to take an 18-17 lead.  Tied at 20-20, the 'Cats got a East Bay service error followed by a Cada kill and an attack error to take a 23-20 lead on their way to a 25-22 set win.
            Beller produced seven kills with two blocks in the set win followed by Cada with six and Brahmer adding five kills.
            The 'Cats started to click in the third set, hitting .385 while forcing California State East Bay into nine errors as WSC led from start to finish in a 25-12 set win.
            Beller posted four kills, two blocks and a service ace while Cada also accounted for four kills in the third set.
            The fourth set was close early until WSC scored 11 straight points to run away for a 25-11 set win to take the match 3-1.  WSC hit a sizzling .464 in the match with 14 kills on 28 attacks and just one error.  Brahmer hit a perfect 1.000 in the set with six kills while senior setter Rachel Walker had two service aces.
            Wayne State finished the match with a .315 hitting percentage compared to .163 for the Pioneers.  The 'Cats held a 60-51 advantage in kills and 78-70 on digs.  WSC had eight service aces and held a 7-0 advantage in blocks.
            Beller led a balanced Wildcat attack with 19 kills and a .471 hitting percentage.  She also had a team-high four blocks.  Brahmer produced 17 kills and a .438 hitting percentage with Cada also accounting for 17 kills with a .410 percentage attacking.
            Senior libero Jordan McCormick notched a team-best 22 digs followed by Cada with 15.  Walker handed out 48 set assists to go with 10 digs and two service aces.
            Wayne State faces host Concordia Irvine Friday evening at 9 p.m. Central Time to wrap up day one play at the Golden Eagle Invite in California.