HAYWARD, Calif. – The University of California, Merced women's volleyball team fell in straight sets to Cal State East Bay on Friday night, 3-0 (25-20, 26-24, 25-14).
The Bobcats (4-10, 3-2) loss snapped a three-match winning streak.
Natalie Riley led the Bobcats with a career-high ten kills. She has upped her career-high in three straight matches.
Sera Riley added eight kills and eleven digs.
Middle blockers Morgan Wilson and Ayana Ruffin combined for seven kills on 15 attempts and just one error.
Kyra Miller finished with 17 assists, eleven digs, three kills, and a service ace. Miller's double-double was her third in a row and sixth of the year.
Jazmine Banks collected 12 digs and six assists.
Other notables include nine assists from Ellie Gordon, six kills from Kylah Guzman, and two blocks, one solo from Ayana Ruffin.
Cal State East Bay jumped out to an 11-5 lead in set one and led by at least four points the rest of the frame. UC Merced's best stretch in the set was a 4-0 run to cut an eight-point deficit in half. N. Riley had three kills and Taylor Crayne had a service ace in the burst that brought the Bobcats back within four points at 17-13. Cal State East Bay recorded a match-high .304 hitting percentage to help win the set and the Pioneers final seven points all came via the kill.
The second set had four ties early on before Cal State East Bay created separation with a 6-0 run to own a 15-9 advantage. Guzman stopped the Pioneers run with a kill and the Bobcats used that to chip away at the deficit and pull within two points later on at 19-17. UC Merced also trailed by a pair at 21-19 but the deficit doubled shortly after at 23-19. The Bobcats stayed alive with four straight points to pull even 23-23 highlighted by another Guzman kill. The two teams traded kills to get the score to 24-24 but the Bobcats followed with back-to-back errors to fall behind 2-0 in the match.
The Bobcats led 4-1 to start the third set and the game was tied 11-11 with the Riley sisters providing the offense for the Bobcats. Cal State East Bay led 15-13 shortly after and the broke the game open from there, exploding on a 9-0 run that took them to match point leading 24-13. The run ended on a service error but the Pioneers captured match point one rally later on a UC Merced attack error.
Up next, UC Merced will play at 2024 NCAA Division II runner-up San Francisco State on Saturday, October 4 at 5:00pm inside SFFCU Gymnasium at Don Nasser Family Plaza.
