STANFORD, Calif.—CSU Bakersfield battled No. 1 Stanford in Friday night's first round NCAA Volleyball Tournament match, but the Cardinal came away with a 3-0 victory.

Stanford, the tournament's overall No. 1 seed, opened set one by scoring six of the first seven points. Trailing 11-4, the Roadrunners cut the lead to 13-10 with a 6-2 run that was capped off by a Kelsee Sawyer (Jr., Temecula, Calif., Temecula HS) kill. The teams exchanged points.

With Eryn Riley (Sr., Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., Los Osos HS) on the serve at 14-11, a Danika Youngblood (Sr., Salt Lake City, Utah, Western Nebraska CC) kill cut the advantage to two as the Cardinal called timeout. A Roadrunner block made it a one point game.  Back-to-back Roadrunner hitting errors keyed a 6-3 Cardinal spurt. CSUB called its second timeout of the set down and got one point back, but Stanford responded two straight. At 23-17, Stanford recorded a service error.  A Cardinal hitting error allowed the Roadrunners to close to within five.

Morgan Boukather ended a long rally with a kill for a 24-19 advantage.  Sawyer staved off one set point with a kill. 6-8 middle hitter Brittany Howard hit an attempt into the net to create a 24-19 score.  Inky Ajanaku recorded set point with a kill (25-21). Although CSUB held the Cardinal to .189 hitting, but five team (10 individual) blocks proved to be the difference.

With a front line averaging 6-2, the Cardinal used their height advantage to force three CSU Bakersfield hitting errors as Stanford jumped out to an 8-2 second set lead.  Trailing 11-4, CSUB scored four of the next six points to climb to within five at 13-8. CSUB kept chipping away, moving to within 22-18 when Sawyer's kill landed in the back row. The Cardinal called timeout. A second consecutive Sawyer kill made it a three-point set.  Ajanaku returned the serve to Stanford with kill up the middle.

A CSUB hitting error made it set point. Sawyer kept the set going with a kill.  A block from Sawyer and Molly O'Hagan (Sr., Tonganoxie, Kan., Tonganoxie HS) cut it back down to three. Jordan Burgess gave the Cardinal the set with a cross court kill 25-21. Stanford out-blocked CSU Bakersfield 8-2 in the frame, holding CSUB to .070 hitting (16-13-43). The Roadrdunner defense was tough on the Cardinal in the second set, holding Stanford to a .226 average (11-4-31).

The Roadrunners scored the first two points of the third set, earning a 3-1 lead. Capitalizing on four CSUB unforced errors, the Cardinal went on a 6-1 run to take a 7-4 lead. The Roadrunners called timeout which worked as Sawyer's cross court kill returned serve to CSU Bakersfield. Stanford scored the next two points to go up 9-5.

A kill from Luiza Martins (Jr., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Western Nebraska CC), CSUB's setter led to three straight Roadrunner points and a Stanford timeout.  The Cardinal went to Lutz who scored two of the next three points. Bakersfield battled back to get to within two twice in the middle of the set. 

Leading 15-13, Stanford's 5-1 spurt increased the lead. CSU Bakersfield continued to fight, recording two straight to work it to 20-16. The Cardinal called a set for Jordan Burgess on the outside and she responded with a kill to stem the CSUB's momentum. Stanford followed that with consecutive blocks. The Cardinal ended the set on a 5-2 run and won the set 25-18 to advance in the tournament.

Sawyer posted a match high 18 kills to lead CSU Bakersfield. Youngblood charted 12 kills, six digs, and two blocks. Martins dished out 34 assists. Mariah Alvidrez (R-Sr., Bakersfield, Calif., Liberty HS) led all players with 20 digs.

No Stanford player had double-digit kills, but the Cardinal outblocked the Roadrunners 18-8 for the match. Lutz led her team with nine blocks (a match high) and eight kills. Ajanaku charted eight blocks and eight kills. Kyle Gilbert tallied 16 digs for Stanford. Madi Bugg tallied 31 assists. Stanford outhit CSUB .219-.049 but CSU Bakersfield held a 50-36 advantage In digs.

Stanford (30-1) advances to play Michigan State, 3-1 winner Friday night over Loyola Marymount in the second round on Saturday at Maples Pavilion. CSUB ends its season with a 16-15 record.

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