SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The University of California, Merced women's volleyball team fell 3-1 (14-25, 25-23, 25-11, 25-22) to Cal State San Marcos on Saturday afternoon.
Natalie Riley led the Bobcats (4-8) with ten kills and ten digs for her third double-double of the season and the second of her career against CSUSM.
Kyra Miller added 18 assists, six kills, six digs, two blocks, and two service aces. With her aces, she tied Sera Riley for third all-time in program history with 105 career service aces.
Ayana Ruffin tied her career-high with five kills. Morgan Wilson had five kills, five digs, and two service aces. Callie Neufeld also pitched in five kills and two service aces.
Jazmine Banks collected 16 digs and filled the stat sheet with three service aces and a career-high eight assists.
Eve Dixon added eight assists, five digs, and a service ace. UC Merced had ten service aces as a team. Other notables include four kills in one set for Yahaira Vazquez and two blocks, one solo for Giselle Henley.
Banks and Wilson both moved into sixth and seventh all-time on the program's sets played list, ending the day with 354 and 353 career sets played, respectively. Cassandra Diaz and Dominique Andrews previously held the six and seven spots in the Bobcats record books.
The Bobcats opened the first set with a 4-0 advantage and never looked back. A little later, UC Merced embarked on a 10-3 run to extend their advantage to nine points at 16-7 that was highlighted by back-to-back blocks from Miller and Neufeld and back-to-back service aces from Banks. The Bobcats advantage reached double figures at 22-12 following a Ruffin kill on the way to a 25-14 set one victory.
UC Merced never led in the second set, but did overcome multiple deficits to tie the game and stay in position to make a late run. The Bobcats first had to overcome a 9-3 deficit and did so with a 6-0 burst with a good service run from Neufeld. Trailing 14-12 midway through the frame, Wilson provided big points with a kill and an ace to pull even again at 15-15. CSUSM answered with three straight points and a used a 5-1 spurt overall to reach 20 points first while leading 20-16. The Bobcats stayed the course and came within one at 23-22 with points from Riley and Miller, but UC Merced would fall 25-23.
Cal State San Marcos jumped out to another big lead in the third set and it proved too much for the Bobcats to overcome. The Cougars scored five straight points to lead 9-2 and then put forth a 7-0 run shortly after to own a 16-4 advantage. The home team led by at least eleven points the rest of the frame and by as many as 15 at 24-9. Cal State San Marcos recorded a .406 hitting percentage in the set, while the Bobcats managed just five kills and hit .125.
The Bobcats were forced to play catch-up again in the fourth set as they fell behind 5-2 and 10-6. Riley and Miller kills kept the Bobcats battling and then Vazquez put down back-to-back kills to make it a one-point game at 13-12. UC Merced would come within a point again at 16-15 after Henley's solo block. Facing a 19-15 deficit shortly after, Dr. Anitra Brockman's team managed to tie the game with four straight points highlighted by 1.5 points from Riley. Cal State San Marcos responded with three straight points and a 6-3 match ending run overall to take the match.
Despite the loss, UC Merced won the regular-season series 2-1 over Cal State San Marcos.
Looking ahead, UC Merced will play at Menlo College on Friday, October 2. First serve from the Haynes-Prim Pavilion in Atherton, Calif., is scheduled for 5:00pm.
