BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – The Roadrunner beach volleyball team hosted a tri-meet in rainy conditions on Friday at the Student Recreation Center Barnes Beach Volleyball Complex. CSUB dropped its match against Cal Poly 4-1 before falling to San José State 3-2. The No. 1 'Runner pairing of Sydney Haynes and Carol Grasso won both of its matches on Friday.
“I think that we just started a little bit late on a lot of our matches and just couldn't catch up,” said Olivia Simko, CSUB's Head Coach for beach volleyball. “Cal Poly is a very competitive program. They have great players and great coaches. We did the same thing against San José. A lot of our girls are still figuring out how to play the game and be competitive. It's such a quick game; it's only 21 points. Our girls are figuring out that they need a bigger sense of urgency in those situations.”
The highlight of the day for CSUB was Haynes and Grasso's 2-0 performance against the Mustangs and Spartans. After the matches, Simko expressed confidence in her top pair: “They are doing really well. They have a good focus and a good partnership. They are both really solid players and they both know the game pretty well. I attribute a lot of success to that.”
Match 1
The Roadrunners got out to a slow start and could not recover against Cal Poly in CSUB's first match of the day. The Mustangs won the first two matches to take a 2-0 lead over CSUB. Katie Dunbar-Lowe and and Lisa Armendariz fell in straight sets, 21-16 and 21-16.
The No. 4 pairing of Sophie Flemion and Kelsee Sawyer got into a battle with Cal Poly's Bailey Roach and Casey Carroll. Roach and Carroll took the first set 21-17 before Flemion and Sawyer came back with a 21-16 victory to force a third set. The 'Runners took the Mustangs deep into the third set, but Cal Poly won the match 17-15.
Cal Poly clinched the match with a win at No. 3 over Bakersfield's Kayla Tinker and Kortney Freeland, which also forced three sets. Edithza Urias and Jocelyn Rodriguez then fell at No. 2 in straight sets before Grasso and Haynes earned the only point of the match for CSUB at No. 1. Grasso and Haynes sprinted out with a 21-8 first set victory over Cal Poly's Adlee Van Winden and Raeann Greisen. The Mustangs battled back in the second set, but CSUB's top pairing pulled out the 2-0 victory with a 21-19 win.
In the exhibition No. 6 matchup, Ally Barber and Amanda Schoene fell 21-13 and 21-10 to Cal Poly. The Mustangs improved to 2-4 with their victory while CSUB fell to 1-2 with the 4-1 loss.
Match 2
San José State's No. 5 and No. 4 teams took a pair of straight-set victories over the 'Runners to open the final match of the day. After the second set of matches got started, the Spartans clinched the match at No. 3 with 21-14 and 21-14 set victories.
The 'Runners continued to play hard and took each of the final two matches in exciting fashion. No. 1 Haynes and Grasso cruised to a first-set win, 21-16, then fought hard for the second set. The Spartans' Julia Menhart and Hana Tresnakova held a 20-19 lead in Set 2, but Haynes and Grasso pushed the set to extra points and eventually took the set and match 23-21.
The No. 2 matchup featuring CSUB's Rodriguez and Urias was the most exciting of the match. The 'Runners took a tough first-set loss, 21-15, but did not let the deficit affect their spirts. Rodriguez and Urias stormed back to take Set 2, 21-17, and fought off SJSU in the third and final set to win 15-8.
Barber and Schoene finished their day 1-1 by taking the exhibition match 2-1. The pair won the first set 21-15, then fell 21-18, but edged out SJSU 15-12 in the third to take the match. With the win, SJSU improved to to 3-5 on the season while the Roadrunners dropped to 1-3 with the 3-2 loss.
The 'Runner will return to action with another home tri-meet next weekend. CSUB will play host to Grand Canyon and CSUN, Mar. 19, here in Bakersfield.
The CSUB Student Recreation Center was opened in 2009 and is the center of student interaction and wellness at CSU Bakersfield. The $24 million facility houses over 75,000 square feet of both exercise equipment and other spaces for fitness, education and recreation for CSUB students, faculty and staff. In 2012, the SRC, CSUB Athletics, along with donors Steve and Lori Barnes partnered to build the sand courts, home of 'Runners Beach Volleyball and a place for students & community members to participate in this emerging and exciting sport.
~GoRunners.com~
