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TURLOCK, Calif. - For the first time in program history, San Francisco State is advancing to the CCAA Tournament Championship. The No. 5-seeded Gators rode their trio of outstanding hitters to a five-set victory to take down the No. 1 seed, Cal Poly Pomona, 25-14, 23-25, 25-23, 18-25, and 15-13.
 
Aidan Goodrich led the SFSU attack with a match-high 24 kills, but she also received help from Tamiya Wilson and Grace Witcher, who each posted 14 kills. The trio combined for 52 of the Gators' 59 kills. They all added at least 12 digs to record double-doubles. Setter Melanie Hewlett also registered a double-double with 46 assists and 17 digs. Lindsey Olsen added a match-best six assisted blocks, and Alana Larson led the team with 20 digs.
 
The Broncos got 17 kills from Elle Walker, 16 from Sarah Ybarra, and 12 from Charlotte Koerber. Ybarra and Koerber added double-doubles with digs. Koerder's 24 digs were one short of her teammate Kaden Young (25) for a match-high. Setter Kacie Caoili added 46 assists, 13 digs, and three aces.
 
San Francisco came ready to play after their upset win in the quarterfinals. They jumped out to a 13-7 lead and pushed it to 19-10 before closing out the set 25-14 to grab the momentum.
 
The second set was tightly contested. After trading points through 12-12, the Broncos outscored the Gators 8-4 to take a 21-16 lead. SFSU tried to close the gap and brought the deficit down to two at 22-20, but CPP was able to trade points down the stretch to even the match at 1-1.
 
The third set was another one that came down to the wire, and this time it was SFSU that closed down the stretch. Trailing 22-18, San Francisco State scored seven of the next eight points to win the set 25-23 and take the 2-1 lead.
 
The Broncos would not go away easily, and they dialed up their defensive intensity in the fourth set. CPP jumped out to a 6-1 lead and pushed it to 12-3. SFSU closed the deficit to 19-16 before CPP went on a 6-2 run to win 25-18. Cal Poly Pomona held SF State to its lowest hitting percentage in any set (.089) and had 16 kills to the Gators' 10.
 
With the match on the line in the decisive fifth set, San Francisco State got out to a fast start, taking a 5-1 lead and going up 8-4. After switching sides, the Broncos found their rhythm and fought back to tie the match at 10-10. A challenge call went in the Gators' favor to go up 11-10, and then the Broncos rattled off three straight points off SFSU errors to take the 13-11 advantage. CPP would not score another point as SF State posted the final four points of the set to secure the match with a 15-13 win.
 
San Francisco State has been in the CCAA Tournament semifinals in four of the last five years, but it had never reached the finals until now.
 
It will face the No. 2 seed Cal State San Bernardino for the CCAA Volleyball Tournament Championship and the automatic bid to the NCAA West Regional on Saturday, Nov. 22, at 5 p.m.
 
This is the third consecutive CCAA Tournament this fall that has seen the No. 2 and No. 5 seeds play for the title. Last week in Seaside, both the men's and women's soccer title matches were between the No. 2 and No. 5 seeded teams.