BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – Momentum swung back and forth like a pendulum in CSU Bakersfield volleyball's home opener Tuesday night as the Roadrunners forced five sets against cross-valley foe Fresno State. The two teams traded the first four sets before the Bulldogs edged CSUB in the final set for a 3-2 victory in the Icardo Center.
"This was definitely a tough loss for us," said Giovana Melo, CSUB's Director of Volleyball. "I saw some really good things. We beat them in every category but serves. It's hard to lose games like that, but I am proud of our performance."
The opening set was tight with CSUB holding the biggest lead of the set at 13-8. From there, Fresno State won 10 of the next 11 points to take an 18-14 lead. The `Runners battled back and came within one point of forcing the opening set past 25 points, but a kill by Lauren Torres gave the Bulldogs a 25-23 victory. Junior Mattison DeGarmo paced the `Runners with seven kills and a .778 hitting percentage in the opening frame.
Set 2 started out tight, but CSUB pulled away to take a 20-13 lead. The CSUB offense was firing on all cylinders as Bakersfield took a 25-16 win to tie the match at one set apiece. Redshirt senior Haylee Roberts was a perfect 6-for-6 in the set to lead the way to a dominant win.
The Bulldogs managed to pull out another tight win in the third set, this time, 25-21. Fresno State's leading hitter, Taylor Slover, recorded six kills while her setter, Madelyn Halteman, had 10 assists in the set. CSUB's Sidney Wicks and Fabiana Andrade each had seven assists for the `Runners as Fresno State took a 2-1 lead.
The fourth set featured another dominant win for the `Runners, again by a score of 25-16. The Bulldogs kept the set close up until a 10-10 tie, but an 8-3 run by CSUB opened the gap. Redshirt senior Sydney Haynes had six kills in Set 4 while senior Emily Lopes recorded eight digs.
In the deciding set, neither team ever had a lead larger than two points and the score ended up tied at 13-13. A CSUB service error gave the Bulldogs a match point and Slover put away the final kill to take the set 15-13 and the match 3-2.
The `Runners were led by DeGarmo's season-high 16 kills. Three other `Runners, Haynes (15), Roberts (12), and junior Brianna Mariner (12), all had double-digit kill totals as well. Andrade recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 38 assists and 11 digs while Wicks chipped in for 24 assists. Lopes finished the night with 27 digs while senior Aleksandra Djordjevic added seven kills and 10 digs.
CSUB (4-7) will return to action this weekend in a tournament in Southern California. The `Runners will play three matches over two days, Sept. 15-16. Live stats and live stream will be available for all three matches and links for those can be found at the CSUB volleyball schedule page.
~GoRunners.com~
