Valentic Writes Name in Record Books

• The Roadrunners competed at the Seawolf Invitational hosted by Sonoma State over the weekend.
• 11 Bakersfield athletes lined up for the 5,000-meter race on Saturday morning against Cal Poly Pomona, Fresno Pacific, and Sonoma State. 
• The famous Woodward Park course was filled with rolling hills, making for beautiful scenery.
• Despite having just one workout in the season, the `Runners were led by Helena Valentic.
  • The Croatian placed 2nd overall out of 44 athletes.
  • Valentic finished with a time of 18:43.89 good for 6th in program history for the 5k. 
• Junior Neyda Martinez was the second `Runner to cross the line placing 21st overall with a time of 20:36.58. 
• True freshman Anicia Carrillo finished in 28th with a time of 22:10.02.
• Jayden Reyes Sarmiento (31st) and Alicia Muralles (33rd) rounded up the top five for CSUB. 
• Bakersfield finished in fourth with a total of 88 points.
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Match 1 vs. New Mexico

• Bakersfield was on their first official road trip of the season to start of a three-game tournament starting with the New Mexico Lobos.
• New Mexico won the first set of four, scoring 25-23
• Sophomore, Naomi Chankoumi led the team in kills with 13.
• Transfer Paige Dugan had a standout performance, making the All-Tournament team with 12 kills, averaging .300 per set. 
• Breklyn Pulling, who was a part of the All-Tournament team, put up nine kills paired with seven blocks.

Match 2 vs. Utah Tech

• For the second day and second game of the Lobo Invitational, Cal State Bakersfield played as the neutral home team against Utah Tech.
• The first set begun evenly, with a back-and-forth affair that was broken when Utah Tech. The Trailblazers stayed in front to attain a 25-19 opening set win.
• Attacking errors plagued CSUB’s second set as Utah Tech deployed a suffocating net-front blocking presence. The Trailblazers swung momentum their way after a reversed call when the teams were within just a point, as UTT went on to blitz set two 25-14.
• True freshman Sydney Dunning (8 kills, 16 digs, 1 block in the match) found her footing in her first true taste of consistent action.
• The `Runners held a multi-point lead until they took set three 25-17.
• Bakersfield continued its controlled game, as Ella Erteltova (finishing with a double-double of 16 assists and 11 digs) guided the `Runner attacking style with her sets. 
• The `Runners pulled ahead early with a lead before getting to the media timeout leading 15-10. However, UTT turned on the jets and rushed to a 15-5 run that led to a 25-20 third set win and overall match victory, 3-1.

Match 3 vs. St. John's

• In the tournament's final match against St. John's, the `Runners took 7-4 lead early, as Sophia Bertotti Metoyer led the way with three kills
• After a very back-and-forth set, SJU was able to pull away and evade a CSUB comeback, 25-22.
• CSUB gained the momentum in set two following a tremendous effort from Paige Dugan chasing down a ball deep in the back court to save a point for the `Runners. Bakersfield would go on for a 25-21 win, tying the sets, while tallying 25 digs as a team already.
• SJU took a commanding 5-0 lead in the third set. Although Bertotti Metoyer would help the `Runners claw within a few points of the deficit, St. John's closed out the set to go up 2-1.
• Grace Moss and Nene Hawkins served well, adding aces to CSUB's impressive total as Paige Dugan earned her sixth kill on the day to help the `Runners tie up the match yet again with a 25-20 set win.
• In the tiebreaker set, Bakersfield jumped out to a quick 3-point lead, but SJU quickly recovered and eventually put CSUB away 16-14 in a thrilling match to cap off the Lobo Invitational.
• The final set saw 10 ties and 3 separate lead changes.

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Game 1 at San Diego State

• The Roadrunners (0-1-2) battled through a pair of tough games this week, coming away with a narrow loss and a draw.
• On Monday, Aug. 28, CSUB went on the road to test itself against a very tough San Diego State squad.
• The `Runners and Aztecs were tied in a scoreless battle heading into the final 10 minutes of the match.
• CSUB created a fantastic scoring opportunity late in the game, but whiffed on finishing the opportunity. The momentum quickly shifted when SDSU netted the game-winning goal in the 82nd minute.
• Bakersfield was disappointed to walk away from the clash with a 1-nil loss, but Interim Head Coach Adam Grant appreciated the mettle his squad showed against the Aztecs, who sport a deep and talented roster.

Game 2 vs. Pacific

• On Sunday night, Bakersfield got back to action, hosting Pacific at the Main Soccer Field.
• A Bakersfield mental miscue led to a goal for the Tigers in the 17th minute.
• CSUB Captain Bryson Hankins created a dangerous opportunity in the 28th minute and his ball crossing the face of goal was poked in by a Tiger defender, tying the match at 1-1.
• Despite going down early, CSUB was the aggressor early and often, dominating possession and opportunities throughout the match.
• Were it not for a highlight-reel-worthy performance from Pacific goalkeeper Joshua Moya, the `Runners surely would have come away with at least one more goal during their onslaught of attacks in the second half.
• Alas, Bakersfield settled for the 1-1 draw against Pacific, which provides CSUB a little bit of extra fire to come out swinging next week.

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Early first and second half goals proved to be the difference 

• Traveling to Los Angeles for their third straight away game, the Roadrunners were unable to overcome quick goals at the start of each half from the Lions, falling 3-0 to Loyola Marymount on Thursday night.
• The game started slowly and uncoordinated on both ends of the pitch with either side trying to find their rhythm. LMU broke through in the 21st minute with a goal from Jennessa Groves, who tallied seven shots on the evening.
• As Bakersfield tried to find its footing, Hollee Hercik stood strong in the net to keep the `Runners alive with a crucial save on a tricky shot down low.
• CSUB was having trouble finding a way through LMU's back-line, as their typically lethal through-balls were being easily handled by the Lions' defensive discipline.
• Just over two minutes into the second half, Loyola Marymount caught the `Runners off guard and tapped in a second goal due to an unlucky bounce inside CSUB's penalty area.
• Jette Zimmer worked in traffic and turned on a solid shot, arguably CSUB's best chance of the game, that was dealt with by LMU's keeper. The `Runners were finally putting sustained pressure on the Lions but could not quite make the chances count.
• LMU iced the game with a third, decisive goal in the 76th minute, sealing the victory and defeating CSUB 3-0.

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