MERCED, Calif. – The University of California, Merced women's volleyball team battled but fell to Cal State East Bay in four sets on Saturday night inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium, 3-1 (21-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-20).
The Bobcats (5-14, 4-6) recorded season-high's of 77 digs and 183 attacks. Also of note, UC Merced held Cal State East Bay to a .158 hitting percentage which marked the lowest success rate of any Bobcat opponent in CCAA play.
Kyra Miller led the Bobcats with a near triple-double. She finished with a career-high 20 digs to go along with 15 assists and nine kills. Miller's double-double marked her eighth of the year.
Kylah Guzman tallied 12 kills for her fourth double-figure kill performance in 2025, while Morgan Wilson recorded a CCAA career-high nine kills and a solo block.
Wilson passed Genesis Hester for fourth in program history with 39 career solo blocks and Olanasaze Ojo for fifth with 170 total blocks.
Semiramis Tanasescu had nine kills on a .412 hitting percentage and season-high tying four blocks. A season-high three of her blocks were solo. With her outing, Tanasescu passed Olanasaze Ojo for second in program history with 57 career solo blocks.
Ellie Gordon registered her first double-double of the season with 21 assists and a season-high eleven digs. She also tied her career-high with three service aces.
Jazmine Banks finished with 12 digs and five assists.
Other notables include two service aces from Kaitlyn Anderson and a solo block each from Riley and Wilson.
The Bobcats struck first with a win in the opening set and had a solid start jumping out to a 6-2 lead. Cal State East Bay fought back to tie the game 10-10 before the Bobcats regained the lead with back-to-back kills from Riley and Wilson. UC Merced fell behind 16-15 and trailed 20-17 a little later due to a few attack errors. The Bobcats rallied with a 6-0 run sparked by a pair of Wilson kills. Yahaira Vazquez capped the run with a kill of her own to give the Bobcats a 23-20 lead. After a service error, Guzman delivered the Bobcats 24th point via the kill and Wilson scored set point with her sixth kill of the frame.
Cal State East Bay started strong in the second set and built an 8-2 lead. The Pioneers continued to pull away, extending their advantage to double-figures as soon as the 18-8 mark. The Bobcats chipped away at the deficit with the help of Riley and got as close to four points, 23-19, before ultimately falling 25-19.
The third set saw eight ties and four lead changes spread out across the set. The Bobcats first lead was 9-8. UC Merced led four more times throughout the frame, but never by more than one point. Head coach Ai Prachumsri's squads latest lead was 19-18 after a Tanasescu kill. Cal State East Bay answered the late deficit with a 4-0 run and the lead never vanished. The two teams traded sideouts in the closing moments with the Pioneers taking the set 25-23.
UC Merced built an early 6-2 lead in the fourth set but similar to the first set the Pioneers fought back and tied it 8-8. Four lead changes followed in the next eleven rallies and then a 4-0 UC Merced spurt put the Bobcats up 16-13, capped by a Gordon ace. UC Merced led 20-17 later on, but couldn't close out the set and fell victim of a match-ending 8-0 Pioneer run to lose the match.
Up next, UC Merced will travel south to play Cal State LA on Friday, October 24. The match is set for 5:00pm inside University Gym in Los Angeles.
