CSUB struggles in the sun and sand

CSU Bakersfield senior Sydney Haynes goes for a kill on Saturday, March 24, at the Barnes Beach Volleyball Complex.

Johnathan Wheatley, Assistant Sports Editor
April 4, 2018

It has been a tough past couple weeks for the CSU Bakersfield beach volleyball team, going 0-7 and facing four ranked opponents.

The Roadrunners hosted at the time No. 7 Cal Poly and No. 15 Loyola Marymount College on March 24 at the Barnes Beach Volleyball Complex, losing to both opponents to a score of 0-5.

CSUB (3-10) was unable to win a set against the Mustangs of Cal Poly and the closest was in the first set in the match with the No. 1 duo of senior Sydney Haynes and freshman Emily Hansen.

In the game against LMU, CSUB was able to steal a set with help from the No. 2 duo of freshman Desiree Sukhov and sophomore Sarah Garrow. The duo fell in the third set, 15-8.

“I think we fought really hard but I do believe we can do better than this,” said Haynes.

“We had good moments but we could not be consistent with the good moments,” said Head Coach Cesar Benatti on the game against LMU.

The Roadrunners traveled to Folsom, CA to take part in the Big West Challenge. It began with No. 3 ranked University of Hawaii and they fell 0-5. Hawaii lost only one match throughout the Challenge and won all five of its games.

CSUB followed that with a loss to winless Sacramento State University, 2-3. The top two duos for the Roadrunners won their matches. Duo No. 4 of junior Briannah Mariner and senior Aleksandra Djordjevic and No. 5 of freshman Krista Hernandez and junior Ally Barber went into 3-set matches with the Roadrunners falling.

The final game for the Roadrunners on Friday, March 30 was against CSU Northridge and for the second time CSUB fell, 2-3. The No. 2 duo of Sukov and Garrow one their match and the No. 5 duo of Barber and Hernandez also won their match.

The next day, CSUB faced two more nationally ranked opponents, No. 5 Long Beach State and No. 6 Cal Poly. The Roadrunners were swept in straight sets in all of their matches in both games and finished the Big West Challenge, 0-5.

The Roadrunners return home and have a three game homestand. They will face the University of New Mexico on Friday, April 6 at 1:30 p.m., then Sacramento State and California State Los Angeles on Saturday, April 7 starting at 10 a.m.

The following weekend, the Roadrunners will head out to Northridge, California to take on LMU and CSU Northridge on April 12, times still to be determined.