BAKERSFIELD, Calif.--The Bakersfield volleyball team won the 2013 home opener Thursday night defeating Chicago State 3-1 in a Western Athletic Conference match.

With the score tied at 15-15 in the opening set, the Roadrunners used a 10-5 run to overcome a .056 hitting performance to take the an early advantage 25-20. The second set was tight once again. At 18-18, CSUB powered to a 7-3 advantage to win the set 25-21. The Cougars hit .407 in set three to defeat the 'Runners 25-22. Chicago State kept the momentum up in the fourth set, taking 6-1 and a 11-8 lead. Bakersfield scored the next six points and would not relinquish the lead and would win the match 25-20.

Three Roadrunners recorded double-doubles. Kelsee Sawyer (So., Temecula, Calif., Great Oak HS) had 17 kills and 10 digs while Debora Araujo (Sr., Belo Horizonte, Brazil (Western Nebraska C.C.) posted 16 kills and 10 digs. Fernanda Gonçalves (Sr., Belo Horizonte, Brazil (Western Nebraska C.C.) tallied 47 assists and 11 digs.

"I'm proud of our team for coming out and finishing our first home match in front of our fans and in front of family and friends," said Bakersfield head coach Jolene Shepardson. "I'm thankful they came together in the end and kept good pressure on our opponent. We usually have great serving pressure and it wasn't bad. We were barely missing. So we're just going to execute those a little bit better and keep that serving pressure on our opponent. That's a strong suit for us. I think a little bit more with our defensive game like scoring in our serving game with our defense. Cleaning up our blocks a little bit better will definitely us to prepare for Saturday."

The Roadrunners host Kansas City Saturday at 7 p.m.

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