BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – CSU Bakersfield's volleyball team battled through a tough blocking wall and defeated Seattle U in straight sets (25-17, 25-22, 25-21) on Thursday night. In the Roadrunners' first home match of league play, CSUB improved to a perfect 3-0 in the Western Athletic Conference to remain atop the league standings.
"Our biggest focus today was our serve and pass and that was the part that I was not very satisfied with because we missed a lot of serves," said Giovana Melo, Director of Volleyball at CSUB. "Once we were able to be a little bit more consistent, we were definitely better. Hitting was a lot better tonight. It seems like one player steps up more than the others in each game. It's great that we have the ability to get that from different players."
The `Runners jumped out to an early lead in the first set, 12-8, and forced a Seattle U timeout. A well-balanced offense helped CSUB extend that lead to eight points at 20-12. CSUB finished the set with four kills from four different `Runners – Aleksandra Djordjevic, Desiree Sukhov, Briannah Mariner, and Haylee Roberts – en route to a 25-17 victory.
Bakersfield trailed for most of Set 2, including the biggest deficit at 15-8. CSUB battled back and took the lead for the first time at 22-21. The Redhawks tied the match at 22-22, but kills by junior Mattison DeGarmo and redshirt senior Sydney Haynes followed by an SU attack error sent CSUB to a 2-0 advantage.
Seattle U jumped out to an 11-8 lead in the third set, forcing a CSUB timeout. The `Runners fought back and took the lead, but at 17-16 CSUB called a timeout to slow the Redhawk momentum. Seattle did tie the set at 17-17, but the `Runners won six of the next seven points and finished the set with a 25-21 win for a straight-sets victory. Mariner, a junior transfer, had six kills in the third and final set for CSUB.
A native of Salt Lake City, Utah, Mariner paced CSUB with 13 kills on Thursday while her .571 hitting percentage is the second-best for any `Runner in a match this year. Haynes, a middle blocker, added 11 kills (.308) and Roberts, a fellow redshirt senior, hit .444 with six kills.
Senior Fabiana Andrade tallied 28 assists and five digs in the Icardo Center. Redshirt sophomore Sidney Wicks chipped in 10 assists in the two-setter rotation. Senior Emily Lopes continued to hold down the back line, adding over 8 digs per set (25) to her average which is ranked in the Top 10 in NCAA Division I.
The Roadrunners (9-8, 3-0 WAC) will stay home and host Utah Valley on Saturday, Sept. 30. CSUB will look to exact revenge on the Wolverines, who defeated the `Runners 3-2 in all three meetings a year ago. The match is scheduled to begin at noon and will be our Crossfit game. Friday, Oct. 6, CSUB will take on Grand Canyon during our Kids Day.
~GoRunners.com~
