Reporter
The CSU Bakersfield volleyball team was swept on senior day against New Mexico State University at the Icardo Center on Saturday, Nov. 11.
The Roadrunners (16-13, 9-5 WAC) had a chance to grab the second seed in the Western Athletic Conference tournament next week with a win, instead they will now be the fourth seed.
CSUB honored their five seniors on Saturday, including setter Fabiana Andrade, libero Emily lopes, outside hitter Aleksandra Djordjevic and middle blockers Haylee Roberts and Sydney Haynes.
“Us five seniors were very emotional going into the game, we’d do anything and everything for this program,” said Djordjevic.
Djordjevic added five kills and 15 digs to the Roadrunners total.
The first set started with CSUB scoring two straight points on two New Mexico State errors.
The Aggies (21-7, 12-2 WAC) answered with three points of their own, taking the lead from the Roadrunners, 3-2.
Both teams went back and forth taking the lead, with neither able to pull away. Eventually, the Aggies went on a 6-2 run and took a commanding 22-16 lead.
CSUB staged a comeback scoring the sets next three points, but fell short as New Mexico State won the set 25-21.
In the second set, a kill by Djordjevic and an attack error by the Aggies would give the Roadrunners a 2-0 lead.
New Mexico State battled back and took a 4-2 lead over CSUB.
The Roadrunners would fight to regain the lead and got as close as a 17-16 score, in favor of the Aggies.
New Mexico State then went on a 7-0 run before winning the set, 25-18 after a Lopes service error.
After the half, CSUB started the third set with an 8-1 lead.
“We know we can do it so let’s just do it, we came out and we just wanted to fight,” said Roberts on the beginning of the third set.
She added 10 kills and 2 blocks in the game.
The lead would be short lived as New Mexico State came back with authority and took the lead 9-8 after an 8-0 run.
After both teams trading the lead, the Aggies gained control and took a 17-13 lead.
CSUB would make it a close one as they would score two straight points to make the score 24-22, but fell 25-22 after a kill by the Aggies Tatyana Battle.
“Communication, the ‘I trust you and the I’m going to get this’ is something we can take into the WAC tournament,” said Andrade.
Andrade came up a dig short of her eleventh double-double of the season as she would total 21 assists, 3 service aces and 9 digs.
CSUB will go into the WAC tournament as the fourth seed and take on the fifth seeded Seattle University on Thursday, Nov. 16 at 4:30 p.m. in Edinburg, TX.
All games will be broadcasted on the WAC digital network.
