David Dennis/All-Star Sports Photography

Beach Volleyball April 24, 2021

CSUB Wraps Regular Season, Sets Sights on Big West Tourney

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – Closing out the regular season with a tri-dual in Southern California, the CSU Bakersfield beach volleyball team battled in a pair of matches against two Big West Conference foes on Saturday. The Roadrunners lost a close match against host CSUN to start the morning before picking up their play and fighting against No. 18 Long Beach State. CSUB suffered a 4-1 loss, but the match saw four of five pairings go to the third set.

"Two of our pairs played really hard in the first match," said Cesar Benatti, Bakersfield's Head Coach. "They played some of their best games of the year. Our other pairs came in really flat; we were a little unfocused and that ended up being the difference."

Benatti said he talked with the team between matches and asked his squad to step up the effort against one of the top teams in the country: "We played a really good team. Long Beach has some advantages over us because some of their players have more experience than us and that made the difference. But we had some really close matches and I am really proud of the way we got better throughout the day."

CSUN 3, CSUB 2

Bakersfield's top two pairs earned convincing victories over CSUN, but the Matadors took Pairs 3-5 to clinch the match and revenge their Mar. 27 loss by the same score. With their pairs victory for CSUB, Milica Vukobrat and Cameron Solberg improved to 7-4 on the year. The other `Runner pair to earn a win, Hana Makonova and Emily Hansen now boast a 4-1 record while playing as CSUB's No. 2 pairing.

Vukobrat/Solberg (CSUB) def. Carter/Eknoian (CSUN), 21-10, 21-11
Hansen/Makonova (CSUB) def. McLeod/Waggoner (CSUN), 21-14, 21-14
Honeycutt/Maughan (CSUN) def. Brooke Boiseau/Anna Unke (CSUB), 21-12, 21-17
McMurray/Klein (CSUN) def. Hayley McCluskey/Mapuhola Sekona (CSUB), 21-18, 21-14
McCullough/Sparks (CSUN) def. Seleisa Elisaia/Alaina Gendale (CSUB), 21-17, 21-14

#18 Long Beach State 4, CSUB 1

On the surface level, Saturday's match played out to the same score as CSUB's Mar. 26 meeting with LBSU. The `Runners proudly noticed the difference in the second matchup of the season, however, as three of CSUB's lost pairings came down to the third set against The Beach. Junior Hayley McCluskey and senior Mapuhola Sekona picked up the lone win for the `Runners. Still relatively new to each other, the CSUB duo improved to 4-1 on the sand together.

Spriggs/Molina (LBSU) def. Vukobrat/Solberg (CSUB), 21-18, 13-21, 15-8
Reinking/Kennedy (LBSU) def. Hansen/Makonova (CSUB), 21-10, 9-21, 15-5
Holtz/Griffin (LBSU) def. Boiseau/Unke (CSUB), 21-10, 21-16
McCluskey/Sekona (CSUB) def. Smeathers/Pratesi (LBSU), 11-21, 22-20, 19-17
Mattoon/Rodriguez (LBSU) def. Elisaia/Gendale (CSUB), 21-12, 18-21, 15-13

Next Week

With the regular season wrapped up, the `Runners (4-8) now set their eyes on the ultimate prize: the 2021 Big West Championship. CSUB will meet the other six teams in the league in Long Beach, Calif., Apr. 30-May 1, to fight for the annual league crown and a berth to the NCAA Tournament. Seeding for the Big West Championship will be determined over the weekend and announced early next week, which will set up the double-elimination bracket. For the most up-to-date information about the tournament, visit the Big West's Championship Central.

~GoRunners.com~

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Players Mentioned

#2 Brooke Boiseau: 6' 1"; Junior

#1 Seleisa Elisaia: 5' 11"; Sophomore

#13 Emily Hansen: 5' 10"; Junior

#22 Hana Makonova: 5' 10"; Sophomore

#23 Hayley McCluskey: 6' 0"; Sophomore

#3 Cameron Solberg: 5' 8"; Sophomore

#25 Milica Vukobrat: 6' 0"; Sophomore

#15 Mapuhola Sekona: 5' 9"; Junior

Alaina Gendale: 5' 8"; Junior

Anna Unke: 5' 4"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#2 Brooke Boiseau
: 6' 1"; Junior

#1 Seleisa Elisaia
: 5' 11"; Sophomore

#13 Emily Hansen
: 5' 10"; Junior

#22 Hana Makonova
: 5' 10"; Sophomore

#23 Hayley McCluskey
: 6' 0"; Sophomore

#3 Cameron Solberg
: 5' 8"; Sophomore

#25 Milica Vukobrat
: 6' 0"; Sophomore

#15 Mapuhola Sekona
: 5' 9"; Junior

Alaina Gendale
: 5' 8"; Junior

Anna Unke
: 5' 4"; Junior

California State University at Bakersfield Athletics

Next Event

CSUB Wraps Regular Season, Sets Sights on Big West Tourney

Players Mentioned

#2 Brooke Boiseau

#1 Seleisa Elisaia

#13 Emily Hansen

#22 Hana Makonova

#23 Hayley McCluskey

#3 Cameron Solberg

#25 Milica Vukobrat

#15 Mapuhola Sekona

Alaina Gendale

Anna Unke

Players Mentioned

#2 Brooke Boiseau

#1 Seleisa Elisaia

#13 Emily Hansen

#22 Hana Makonova

#23 Hayley McCluskey

#3 Cameron Solberg

#25 Milica Vukobrat

#15 Mapuhola Sekona

Alaina Gendale

Anna Unke