ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Junior outside hitter Debora Araujo
(Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Western Nebraska C.C.) slammed down 17 kills and
freshman opposite hitter Kelsee Sawyer (Temecula, Calif., Great Oak HS) added
12 as the CSU Bakersfield volleyball team recorded one of its most impressive
victories of the season on Sunday with a 3-2 (13-25, 25-15, 15-25, 25-22,
15-10) win over New Mexico.
"This is a good win today," said CSUB head coach Jolene Shepardson. "We had some great aggressive play in the sets we won, especially after a long travel day and getting in at 1 a.m. with a delayed flight early Sunday morning. I am proud they pushed through together."
Despite trailing 2-1 going into the fourth set, the
Roadrunners (14-16) came back and beat the Lobos (19-10) and win their
second straight match. New Mexico jumped out to a 17-12 lead in the fourth set and
appeared to be headed for the match victory before the 'Runners rallied to tie the
frame at 18-all. The close set landed on a tie again at 21-all before a kill by
Sawyer put CSUB up 22-21 and the 'Runners never gave up the lead. They sealed
the win on a kill by Araujo.
CSUB carried the momentum into the final set as it took a
4-1 lead and then extended it to 9-3 before on its way to completing the comeback.
CSUB and New Mexico split their season series with New Mexico winning the first
showdown 3-1 in Bakersfield earlier this season.
Araujo's 17 kills increased her total to 457 on the season,
which puts her on the top 10 list in
program history for most kills in a season at No. 10. Araujo also posted nine
digs. Junior setter Fernanda Gonçalves (Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Western Nebraska
C.C.) had 34 assists and seven digs, red-shirt sophomore libero Mariah Alvidrez
(Bakersfield, Calif., Liberty HS) posted 19 digs and junior middle blocker Yuan
Fu (Beijing, China, Missouri-Western State Plains) added a career-high nine
kills.
Sawyer also added four service aces, helping the 'Runners
total nine aces in the match compared to two by the Lobos.
The victory is the 14th of the season for CSUB, which is
tied for the most in one season for the program since 2009 when the 'Runners
went 14-17.
The 'Runners will play their final match of the season on
Tuesday at San Jose State (13-14). The match will begin at 6 p.m.
~www.GoRunners.com~
