BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - On a day when the CSUB volleyball team
celebrated the 20th anniversary of its 1989 NCAA Championship team,
the Roadrunners almost gave their alumni a comeback win as a present. But San
Diego State dug in when it need to and survived for a 25-17, 22-25, 25-21,
26-24 win in the Icardo Center.
Sophomore
outside hitter Lindy DeGeare (Stockdale HS) led CSUB with 20 kills and a .310 attack
percentage, but it wasn't enough to compensate for the balanced Aztec offense
that put four attackers in double figures. Hannah Evans, Kyley Sexton and
Andrea Hannasch led that quartet with 13 kills apiece.
"San
Diego is a more physical team than us and has some talented players," said CSUB
Head Coach John Price. "I thought we competed well after the first set and we
did a good job serving to help neutralize some of their size advantage."
The
Aztecs blitzed the Roadrunners in the first set, using an 8-0 run to break open
what was a close game early. SDSU then raced to an 11-4 lead and never trailed
in the second set until a pair of Barbie Unfried Bakersfield HS) aces helped turn a 20-18 deficit into
CSUB's first lead at 23-20. DeGeare closed the set with a kill and an ace.
Aces
proved to be a theme for CSUB, as it used its strong service game to compensate
for SDSU's substantial size advantage. But the Aztecs passed just well enough
over the last two sets to finish the match.
The
teams traded leads in the third set until a Hannasch kill and turned CSUB
attack errors turned an 18-16 Roadrunner lead into a 21-18 Aztec advantage.
CSUB
had one comeback left in its satchel in the fourth set, fighting back as two
DeGeare kills helped the Roadrunners save three match points to tie the set at
24-24. They were poised to take the lead when Paije Pearson stayed with a
poorly-timed set long enough to roll it into the corner for a kill. Hannasch
then finished the match with an ace.
Unfried
helped the Roadrunner cause
with 43 assists and three aces. Senior libero Kalya Williamson (Stockdale
HS) added two aces and a
match-high 28 digs.
CSUB
returns to the road to take on Big West Conference rival Cal State Northridge
Oct. 30. The Roadrunners return home to host Seattle University in consecutive
matches Nov. 1 and 2.
