BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – CSU Bakersfield's volleyball team continued its dominant play with a decisive victory over Chicago State at the Icardo Center on Saturday. With its second three-set sweep of the week (25-15, 25-21, 25-13), the Roadrunners earned a half-game lead in the Western Athletic Conference standings.

"We needed this kind of performance today," said CSUB's Director of Volleyball Giovana Melo. "We needed to play a little bit better and build some confidence. The cool thing about this league is that you have the opportunity to be really good or not do so well because everybody in the league is really good. It's fun and exciting."

The first set started out close, but the `Runners went on a 15-7 run to take the win, 25-15. As a team, CSUB hit .435 in the opening set with a well-balanced offense and the Cougars could not keep up.

In Set 2, the Cougars started out blocking very well and took their first lead at 8-7, but the `Runners battled back and reclaimed the lead. With CSUB up 13-10, Chicago State called a timeout to regroup. The Cougars stormed back and took a lead at 18-17 to force a Bakersfield timeout. The `Runners won five of the next seven points to go up 23-20 and went on to win the set 25-21.

The third and final set started out tight, but a run by the `Runners gave CSUB a 15-10 lead and Chicago State called a timeout. Bakersfield won 10 of the final 13 points and finished off the Cougars 25-13 in the set and 3-0 on the match.

Junior Mattison DeGarmo and redshirt senior Haylee Roberts led all `Runners with nine kills each. Roberts, a Bakersfield native, posted an impressive .600 hitting percentage on the day. Senior Aleksandra Djordjevic chipped in six kills while posting three aces and seven digs in an all-around showing.

Freshman Emily Hansen had been quiet of late but exploded for eight kills on 14 attempts (.429) on Saturday. Senior Fabiana Andrade posted 20 assists, two aces, and four digs against Chicago State while redshirt sophomore Sidney Wicks added 14 assists, three aces, and eight digs.

After a UTRGV loss to New Mexico State on Saturday, CSUB (14-10, 7-2 WAC) now holds a half-game lead on both teams, each of which sit at 6-2 in the league. The `Runners will hit the road again next week for rematches against Utah Valley and Seattle U.

~GoRunners.com~