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California State University at Bakersfield Athletics

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LeisaElisaiaMN04
Mark Nessia/Mark Nessia Photography
3
Winner CSU Bakersfield CSUB 4-0,0-0 Big West
2
Utah St. USU 4-3,0-0 Mountain West
Winner
CSU Bakersfield CSUB
4-0,0-0 Big West
3
Final
2
Utah St. USU
4-3,0-0 Mountain West
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
CSU Bakersfield CSUB 25 25 19 21 15 (3)
Utah St. USU 23 22 25 25 11 (2)
1
CSU Bakersfield CSUB 4-1,0-0 Big West
3
Winner Saint Mary's (CA) SMC 5-1,0-0 WCC
CSU Bakersfield CSUB
4-1,0-0 Big West
1
Final
3
Saint Mary's (CA) SMC
5-1,0-0 WCC
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
CSU Bakersfield CSUB 15 25 26 13 (1)
Saint Mary's (CA) SMC 25 23 28 25 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

`Runners Fend Off Aggies, Fall to Gaels in NorCal

MORAGA, Calif. – A pair of gritty matches resulted in a split on Friday for the CSU Bakersfield volleyball team. The Roadrunners (4-1) outlasted Utah State (5-3) in a five setter to start the day before Bakersfield suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of Saint Mary's (5-1) by a 3-1 score.

"I thought we showed resilience in both matches today," said Giovana Melo, CSUB's Director of Volleyball. "We made some great adjustments in that second game against Saint Mary's, but I am not happy with how we ended the game. We stopped being ourselves. We are a great team when we play our game."

CSUB 3, Utah State 2

After trading points early in the first set, Utah State used an 11-2 run to open an 18-12 lead over CSUB. The `Runners stormed back, going on a 12-4 run of their own and finished off the opening game with a 25-23 victory. Hayley McCluskey, a junior outside hitter, punctuated the win with her sixth kill of the set while Seleisa Elisaia dished out 12 assists in the opening frame. As a team, CSUB hit .310 in the first set and tallied six total blocks.

The second set was tight until Bakersfield used a 4-1 run to take a 19-14 advantage. The Aggies did not let the `Runners out of their sights, but CSUB increased its lead on the match to 2-0 with a 25-22 victory. Bakersfield improved its team hitting in Set 2 with a .385 clip while holding Utah State to just .182 to that point in the match.

Utah State came out of the break swinging in the third set and led most of the way. The `Runners pulled within one point at 14-13, but the Aggies would not be denied and extended the match with a 25-19. CSUB trailed for a large portion of the fourth set, but a 9-3 run put the `Runners ahead 18-17. The Aggies fought back and pulled off another win, 25-21, sending the two teams to the deciding set.

In the fifth set, a 4-1 sprint gave CSUB a 9-6 lead in the race to 15 points. Bakersfield led Utah State at 11-9 and 13-10 and closed out the squad's fourth-straight victory with a 15-11 win.
McCluskey, who hails from Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., finished the match with a career-high 25 kills on .296 hitting. The outside hitter tied for the tenth-most kills in a match in CSUB's Division I history. Also etching her name in the CSUB record book (again) was redshirt junior Brooke Boiseau, who tied her own school record with 10 blocks against the Aggies.

Joining the defensive effort at the net was Elisaia, who recorded a career-high eight blocks while chipping in 44 assists and 11 digs. As a team, Bakersfield posted 16.0 total blocks, the third-most in a match in CSUB's Division I history.

CSUB 1, Saint Mary's 3

Saint Mary's came out swinging in the first set, punching its way to 6-1, 10-3, and 19-9 leads. The `Runners could not slow down their hosts and eventually fell, 25-15, despite hitting a respectable .185 in the opening frame.

CSUB trailed close behind SMC for the majority of the second set, but a late, 6-0 run catalyzed by a pair of Milica Vukobrat aces put the `Runners ahead 23-21. Bakersfield held on for a 25-23 victory and tied the match at one set apiece.

The `Runners gained a momentary, 10-9 lead in the third set, but played from behind for the rest of the set. After trailing 24-20, CSUB fended off four-straight set points to tie the score. Saint Mary's deflected a pair of set points of their own and inched out a 28-26 win to take a 2-1 lead on the match.

The Gaels returned to their first-set form as the `Runners ran out of gas in the fourth set. SMC cruised to a 25-13 victory, clinching their win and handing CSUB its first loss of the season.

Elisaia, a native of South Jordan, Utah, came up just one kill shy of recording CSUB's first triple-double at the Division I level (since 2007). Bakersfield setter's tallied nine kills, 31 assists, and 14 digs on Friday night. Junior right side Milica Vukobrat added 10 kills, three aces, and five digs while redshirt sophomore Hana Makonova chipped in 11 kills and four blocks from the middle. Junior Anna Unke tallied a season-high 10 digs from the back row against the Gaels.

Tomorrow

The `Runners (4-1) will be back in action one more time this weekend, closing out their road trip to NorCal with a match against San Francisco. First serve in the Sobrato Center on Saturday is scheduled for 1 p.m. (PT) and fans can follow the `Runners live once again on the WCC Network.
 
~GoRunners.com~
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