BAKERSFIELD, Calif.—Three CSU Bakersfield players hit over .450 as the Roadrunners swept Chicago State in straight sets Thursday night in Western Athletic Conference action.

Trailing 6-5 in the first set, CSU Bakersfield used Sophie Flemion's strong serve to go on a 5-0 for a 10-6 lead. The Cougars would fall behind 20-16 later in the set, but chipped away at the lead, making it 20-19, resulting in a CSUB timeout. The Roadrunners sped to the next three points and would earn four set points. Up 24-21, an Alexandra Djordjevic kill put CSUB up 1-0 in the match.

The second set saw the teams play to a tie on nine different occasions. At 12-12, the Roadrunners used a 4-0 spurt that would result CSUB scoring 13 of the final 17 points of the frame and resulted in a 25-17 'Runner victory. The Roadrunners, who struggled with their serve in the first, posted five aces in the second, led by a pair from Carol Grasso. Led by Katie Dunbar-Lowe who hit .778 in the third set (7-0-9), the Roadrunners earned the sweep with a 25-15 final set victory.

Dunbar-Lowe would hit .591 for the match, the third highest in a three-set match since CSUB moved to the Division I level. Kortney Freeland did not record a hitting error in 19 attempts, recording 10 kills, for a .526 average in the match. Grasso led all players with 16 kills and she hit .480 for the night (16-4-25). Fabiana Andrade charted a season best 49 assists while Jocelyn Rodriguez had a match high 18 digs.  

Juma Armandao paced Chicago State (3-23, 1-10 WAC) with eight kills. Cougar setters Kelsey Taylor and Corey Davis combined for 26 assists while CSU libero Megan Klavitter had nine digs. The Roadrunners established the school Division I record against the Cougars Nov. 2, 2013 when CSUB hit .434 (45-9-83).

“We are getting better each time out,” said CSUB director of volleyball Giovana Melo. “We are getting more comfortable as a team. Fabiana is doing a good job of distributing the ball and we are getting a lot of different players to make a significant contribution. We need to be able to do that as we move forward. If we continue to improve, we should be ready for the WAC Tournament.

Winners of season high five in a row, the Roadrunners (11-13, 8-3 WAC) will play their final home match of the 2016 campaign Saturday when CSUB hosts UMKC. at 1 p.m. The 'Runners look to maintain their grip on second place in the league as the Kangaroos (14-10) sit one game behind CSUB at 7-4 in WAC play.

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