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California State University at Bakersfield Athletics

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SidneyWicks3
Mark Nessia/Mark Nessia Photography
2
San Francisco USF 4-5,0-0 WCC
3
Winner CSU Bakersfield CSUB 4-6,0-0 WAC
San Francisco USF
4-5,0-0 WCC
2
Final
3
CSU Bakersfield CSUB
4-6,0-0 WAC
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
San Francisco USF 22 25 25 18 10 (2)
CSU Bakersfield CSUB 25 20 22 25 15 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

CSUB Opens Roadrunner Classic with Win Over USF



BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – Overcoming a 2-1 deficit, CSU Bakersfield's volleyball team earned a 3-2 victory over San Francisco in front of a record crowd in the Roadrunners' home opener on Friday. With children from all over Kern County supporting CSUB on Education Day, the `Runners edged the Dons in front of 1,277 people to open the Roadrunner Classic.

"I think the determination and the fight is what keeps making us better," said Giovana Melo, Director of Volleyball at CSUB, when asked about her team not backing down. "Of course, we need to work on the small things, but this team has heart."

The offensive firepower of a trio of young `Runners spurred CSUB's come-from-behind victory in the Icardo Center. Sophomore Hayley McCluskey splattered the stats page with her number to the tune of 18 kills on .324 hitting. Fellow sophomore Brooke Boiseau tallied 14 kills, five digs, and five blocks against the Dons while junior Emily Hansen went off for a career-high 14 kills. Hansen also chipped in six digs and two blocks in the victory.

Redshirt senior Sidney Wicks orchestrated the CSUB offense to perfection, posting a season-high 37 assists and a double-double while adding 16 digs. The effort moved Wicks into seventh on CSUB's Division I career digs list with 596, passing former `Runner Debora Araujo (2012-13). Junior libero Jojo Ishida also contributed a season-high 23 digs to go with two assists and two aces.

The first set featured a closest battle of the match with CSUB and USF finding themselves tied 14 times. Hansen broke a 20-20 tie with a kill from Wicks and sophomore Milicia Vukobrat later extended CSUB's lead to two points at 23-21 with a kill of her own. On set point, the Dons sent an attack long and Bakersfield clinched a 25-22 victory to open the match.

Set 2 was another tight game between the `Runners and Dons, but USF used a 4-0 run to gain some breathing room with a 17-13 lead over CSUB. Bakersfield attempted to answer back, but USF was able to match its opponent blow for blow down the stretch and sealed a 25-20 win to tie the match at one set apiece.

In another seesaw game, the two teams found themselves locked at 20-20 again in Set 3. The Dons flipped the script from the first set, winning five of the final seven points to take a 25-22 victory and 2-1 lead over the `Runners.

USF led CSUB for the first half of the fourth set, but only by a slim margin. From a 14-14 tie, the `Runners went on a 9-1 run to force the game wide open. Hansen was the major catalyst to that rally, tallying six kills in Set 4 alone while guiding her team to a 25-18 win and forcing the match to a deciding fifth set.

Bakersfield came out swinging in Set 5, leaping to a 9-4 lead. San Francisco did all it could to hang around, but the `Runners proved to be too much, finishing the match with a 15-10 victory. Boiseau punctuated the final point with a big swing for a kill as CSUB wrapped up its 3-2 win.

With the victory, CSUB improves to 4-6 on the season and has now won 20 of its last 25 home matches (.800) dating back to the middle of the 2016 season. The `Runners will return to the blue Kern Schools Court in the Icardo Center on Saturday to continue the Roadrunner Classic. CSUB will kick the day off with a contest against UC Davis (7-4) at 10 a.m. before closing the Classic with a rematch against cross-valley rival Fresno State (5-5) at 7 p.m.

In the second match of the Roadrunner Classic on Friday, UC Davis defeated Fresno State 3-1.
 
~GoRunners.com~
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