BAKERSFIELD, Calif.—CSU Bakersfield clinched the second seed for next week's Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament with a 3-0 victory over Chicago State Saturday afternoon.

The Roadrunners (12-14) struggled with the Cougars (1-27, 0-14 WAC) in the opening set. Leading 14-12, CSUB called timeout and responded with an 11-3 run to earn a 25-15 victory. The Roadrunners sped past Chicago State 25-12 in the second set, hitting .375. CSUB hit .405 in the final set to defeat the Cougars 25-19.

In their final home match, seniors Kelsee Sawyer, Edithza Urias, and Luiza Martins led the squad. Sawyer posted a match high 17 kills. Urias hit a match high .417 with 13 kills while Martins directed the offense to 45 assists. She added six digs, one block and one kill.

“What our seniors have done for us not only means a lot to me but for our entire program,” said CSUB director of volleyball Giovana Melo. “I'm very proud of what they have accomplished.”

Sophie Flemion recorded a match high 15 digs for CSUB while Carol Grasso earned 11 digs and eight kills. Chicago State hit .140 for the match. Elli Woinowsky led the Cougars with seven kills.

NM State (25-5) won the WAC regular season title with a 14-0 league mark. The Roadrunners finished league play with a 10-4 mark and earned the remaining first round bye. Utah Valley (9-5 WAC, 14-13), had a chance to tie the 'Runners in WAC play, but lost to NM State earlier on Saturday in straight sets.

CSUB will play the winner of the Utah Valley-UTRGV (11-18, 4-10 WAC) match next Friday at Missouri-Kansas City.  That match will start at 5 p.m. (CST).  NM State will play Friday at 7:30 p.m. (CST) against the winner of the Seattle U (17-10, 9-5 WAC) and UMKC (14-12, 7-7 WAC). The WAC Tournament begins Thursday and all matches can be seen on the WAC Digital Network.

“We are trying to play at our best entering the WAC Tournament,” “I felt the losses to NM State and UTRGV woke us up and came out with a different attitude. We've been back playing more consistent and as a team.”

~www.GoRunners.com~