PHOENIX, Ariz.- Debora Araujo (Sr., Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Western Nebraska CC) led Bakersfield with 21 kills as the Roadrunners shook off a first set loss to defeat Seattle U 3-1 (26-28, 25-15, 25-15, 25-19) in the semifinals of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament Tuesday night at Grand Canyon University.

The Roadrunners battled back to tie the match at 25 in the first set before the Redhawks closed out for the 28-26 win, after that point the 'Runners never trailed posting big leads early in each of the remaining three sets to claim the victory and advance to their first conference championship game at the NCAA Division I level.

Araujo hit .456 in the match and added 14 digs for her 13th double-double of the season. Kelsee Sawyer added 15 kills for Bakersfield while Fernanda Gonçalves (Sr., Belo Horizonte Brazil, Western Nebraska CC) paced the Bakersfield attack with 48 assists in the match while Mariah Alvidrez (R-Jr., Bakersfield, Calif. Liberty HS) added 20 digs for the Roadrunners.

Seattle rallied back from 2-1 down in their quarterfinal matchup against Utah Valley but the Roadrunners continued to apply pressure to make sure their wasn't a repeat for the Redhawks who also committed nine service errors. Bakersfield hit .256 as a team to claim their third win over Seattle this season.

Molly O'Hagan (Jr., Tonganoxie, KS., Tonganoxie HS) had seven kills for Bakersfield while Star Tucker Campbell (R-Fr., Moorpark, Calif. Moorpark HS) added a boost with seven kills and a team-best four blocks.

The Roadrunners will face top-seeded New Mexico State in Wednesday's WAC Tournament Championship set for 5 p.m. (MST). The Aggies defeated fourth seeded Idaho 3-2 in the other semfinal Tuesday night.

Debora Araujo's Postgame Comments:

Head Coach Jolene Shepardson's Postgame Comments: