BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – The Roadrunner volleyball team continued to roll through Western Athletic Conference play with a three-set sweep (25-22, 25-11, 25-21) over Grand Canyon at the Icardo Center on Friday.
"I felt okay about the performance," said Giovana Melo, Director of Volleyball at CSU Bakersfield. "We were a little bit up and down, but the second set was a little bit more dominant. Overall, I thought we did a good job, especially our middles putting the ball away."
When asked about her team's perfect, 5-0 start to WAC play, Melo kept focused on the long-term goal: "We're taking it game-by-game. That's been our motto the entire year and we're going to continue to do that as we go throughout the season."
In the first set, CSUB jumped out to a 9-5 lead. The `Runners pulled ahead to 21-16, forcing GCU to call its final timeout. The Lopes fought back to make the score 22-21, but the `Runners finished the set with a 25-22 victory.
With the `Runners trailing 6-7 in the second set, freshman Krista Hernandez served nine straight points to help CSUB take a 13-8 lead. After a tight beginning, the `Runners opened the throttle and extended their lead all the way to the end and CSUB finished off the set with a 25-11 victory.
The third set was tight early on, but CSUB took a five-point lead at 14-9 to force a GCU timeout. CSUB led at 21-15 before the Lopes fought back to make the score 23-21. A GCU service error followed by an attack error sealed a 25-21 victory and a three-set sweep for the `Runners.
Redshirt senior Haylee Roberts led CSUB with 13 kills on a .429 hitting percentage. Roberts also added four blocks to match fellow redshirt senior Sydney Haynes, who chipped in eight kills and three aces as well. Freshman Bailey Smith continued her hot play of recent with nine kills while five `Runners had at least seven digs on Friday.
Next week, the `Runners (12-8, 5-0 WAC) will put their unblemished WAC record on the line at the two conference foes closest behind them: UTRGV (4-0 WAC) and New Mexico State (3-1 WAC). CSUB will travel to Las Cruces, N.M. on Oct. 12 before closing the weekend Oct. 14 in Edinburg, Texas.
~GoRunners.com~
