BAKERSFIELD, Calif. ? It took CSUB senior libero Mystie McNaughton (Stockdale HS) little more than half of the first set to pass Camille Mitchell as the Roadrunners' all?time leader in digs, but it took visiting Cal State Northridge five grueling sets to pull out a 25-21, 20-25, 25-21, 28-30, 15-12 win Thursday night at the Icardo Center in Bakersfield.

McNaughton finished with a match-high 19 digs, but needed only five to supplant Mitchell as the career leader with 1,794. Her biggest digs came late in the fourth set, however, as the 'Runners saved three match points to force the decisive fifth set.

But after CSUB won the first three points of the final set, Northridge battled back, crawled ahead for good at 9-8, then held on to its slim lead to seal the win.

CSUB entered the week as one of the top serving teams in NCAA Division I volleyball, averaging 2.01 aces per set. The 'Runners were even better Thursday, as freshmen Lindy DeGeare (6 aces) and Alysia Baker (5 aces) helped the 'Runners total a season-high 15 in the match.

Their effort from the service line helped the 'Runners compensate for the struggles they had all night siding out. Despite hitting a respectable .257 for the match, they managed to side out barely 50 percent of the time.

Despite its problems receiving serve, Northridge played a very efficient offense match, hitting .308 as a team. The Matadors hit .462 in winning the first set and .391 with no errors to close out the fifth set.

Senior middle blocker Rosemary Stribling (West HS) led all attackers with 19 kills for CSUB (13-13 overall). Sarah Norman (Stockdale HS) added 15 kills for the ?Runners.

Siara Grayson and Brittany Williams led Northridge (7-19) with 16 kills apiece. Tela Burnett chipped in a match-high six blocks for the Matadors.

CSUB will take the weekend off before returning to action Wednesday at undefeated Fresno Pacific in a rematch of their epic five-set battle earlier this month.