By Esteban Ramirez
Sports Editor
It all came down to the final set of the No. 1 pair, but in the end the CSU Bakersfield sand volleyball team came away with two victories against CSU Northridge and Cal Poly at the Student Recreation Center Barnes Beach Volleyball Complex on March 7.
CSUB beat CSUN 4-1 earlier in the day, but had a little more trouble against Cal Poly. The Roadrunners (2-0) had a 2-1 lead with wins from the No. 5 pair of senior Eryn Riley and redshirt-junior Megan Johnson and No. 3 pair of juniors Sophie Flemion and Sara Little.
However, the Mustangs responded in the No. 2 matchup as junior Nicole Kessler and freshman Caihla Petiprin beat senior Danika Youngblood and sophomore Sydney Haynes (21-12, 22-20).
Photo by Janeane Williams/The Runner
It set the stage for a crucial No. 1 matchup between CSUB’s seniors Molly O’Hagan and Mariah Alvidrez and Cal Poly freshmen Taylor Nelson and Raeann Greisen. CSUB fell behind losing a close first set 22-20, but Alvidrez and O’Hagan responded in the second set by winning it 21-16.
“I kind of just told Molly, ‘things aren’t going our way. I’m getting a little mad so let’s just fight this game,’” Alvidrez said on how they responded after losing the first set. “We just worked really hard together to better ourselves and better our play.”
Going into the third set which decided the match, Alvidrez got CSUB on the board with two back-to-back kills. Thanks to that strong start CSUB ended up beating Cal Poly 15-9 to win the match 3-2.
“I heard the announcement that it was up to our match, so it kind of made me a little nervous at first,” Alvidrez said. “But once I just accepted it, I was just playing each ball just like the other two sets just playing it like any other game and trying not to psych myself out.”
CSUB sand volleyball coach Olivia Simko felt that the team overcame a lot to get the two wins. “They really overcame some issues on the court,” Simko said. “It’s always fun to go out there and compete because you learn new stuff about yourself, your team and your program so we have been waiting for this day for a long time. I’m so proud of these girls and their work ethic, so to be a part of it is such a huge honor.”
