BAKERSFIELD, Calif.—WAC leader NM State defeated CSU Bakersfield 3-1 in league volleyball play Saturday afternoon.

The second largest crowd in the Division I era at CSUB (762) saw 16 ties and six lead changes in the first set.  At 23-23, Sasha-Lee Thomas recorded a kill that was followed by a CSUB attack error that put the Aggies (15-5, 5-0 WAC) on top 25-23.

NM State was able to side out 78% of the time in the second set (11-of-14) and held the Roadrunners to .069 hitting as the Aggies took a 2-0 lead into intermission, 25-13.

The Roadrunners did not commit a hitting error in the third set, recording 15 kills in 32 chances. CSUB used a 6-0 run midway through the frame to break the set open and led by as many as 11 on the way to a 25-16 victory.

The Aggies again posted a 78% side out advantage (15-of-19) in the fourth set. NM State used a balanced offensive attack to hit .636 (22-1-33) to win the set 25-18 and take the 3-1 victory.

“We have to get better and stay focused,” said CSUB director of volleyball Giovana Melo. “We have a tendency to lose focus throughout the match. When you are playing against good teams, you have to stay consistent.”

Five Aggies recorded at least 10 kills, led by Murphy who had 15 and hit .478 (15-123). Bradley Nash posted 14 with Thomas, Jordan Abalos, and Nathali Castellanos each recording 10. Thomas hit .692 for the day (10-1-13). Setters Brianna Ainsworth and Taylor Livoti combined for 56 of the 64 NMSU assists.

Edithza Urias led all players as she tied her season high with 19 kills. Urias hit .500 for the match (19-4-30). Kelsee Sawyer had nine kills while Sydney Haynes and Carol Grasso each posted eight kills. Luiza Martins charted 43 assists and seven digs.

The largest crowd since CSUB moved up to the Division I level came during the 2010 season when 1,008 fans saw UCLA travel to the Icardo Center.

The Roadrunners (5-12, 3-2 WAC) travel to Chicago State (1-17, 0-5 WAC) Thursday. CSUB returns home Oct. 24 when the Roadrunners host Grand Canyon at 12 p.m. Tickets are available at Vallitix.com. The match can also been seen on the WAC Digital Network.

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