SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The University of California, Merced women's volleyball team earned its first victory of the 2026 season with a 3-1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-17, 25-23) win over Minnesota Crookston on Thursday in the first match of The Cougar Classic.
The Bobcats (1-3) win was also the first under head coach Dr. Anitra Brockman.
Natalie Riley, Callie Neufeld, and Kyra Miller all registered double-double's.
Riley finished with 12 kills on a .300 hitting percentage and a career-high 13 digs for her second career double-double. She also had a service ace.
Neufeld tallied career-high's of 12 kills and 11 digs for her first career double-double. Thursday marked her second straight match with 10+ kills, becoming the first Bobcat freshman since Lexus Lagumbay in 2018 with double-figure kills in consecutive matches. Neufeld added a block and a service ace.
Kyra Miller set a new career-high with 44 assists and she supported her assist numbers with 14 digs, four service aces, two kills, and a block. Both her assists and service ace numbers are current CCAA four-set high's. Also of note, Miller passed Lagumbay for fifth in program history with 93 career aces. Miller is the first Bobcat since Brooke Wheeler in 2016 with a 44a/14d/4sa stat line.
Kinnedy Miller contributed ten kills on a .500 hitting percentage and a block.
Yahaira Vazquez added nine kills and eight digs, while Morgan Wilson totaled eight kills and three blocks. One of her two blocks was solo.
Wilson passed Semiramis Tanasescu for eighth in program history with 508 career kills and became the fourth Bobcat in program history to reach 200 career blocks.
Jazmine Banks collected 13 digs.
The opening set the Bobcats explode on an early 12-3 run to turn a three-point deficit into a 15-9 lead capped by back-to-back Vazquez kills. Neufeld also had a pair of kills in the surge. Minnesota Crookston pulled within two points at 18-16, but the Bobcats had another charge in them and used a 7-2 set-ending run to go up 1-0 in the match. Neufeld scored set point with her fifth kill of the frame.
UC Merced trailed 13-8 in the second set before scoring six straight points highlighted by a pair of Kyra Miller aces. UC Merced led 18-17 a little later, but a 7-0 run from Minnesota Crookston saw the Bobcats staring at a Golden Eagles set point. Kinnedy Miller extended the frame with back-to-back kills and the Bobcats scored five unanswered to pull within 24-23, but the Bobcats would fall 25-23.
Set three had 12 ties and five lead changes before either team created separation and it was the Bobcats who claimed the first three-point lead of the frame at 17-14 after back-to-back kills from Neufeld and Riley. Up 18-16 shortly after, Vazquez anchored a 5-0 run to pull away late and help the Bobcats go up 2-1 in the match. UC Merced recorded a .382 hitting percentage in the frame with 16 kills and just three errors on 34 attempts.
The Bobcats erased a couple early deficits in the fourth set before garnering their first lead at 10-9. UC Merced pushed its lead to five points at 15-10 and up to six points at 17-11 after a Wilson kill and Riley ace. Riley continued her strong play and scored the Bobcats 20th point up 20-15. UC Merced led 24-18, but found themselves getting close to extra points as Minnesota Crookston pulled within one at 24-23. Wilson would then score match point with a kill.
Thursday's match marked the first ever between UC Merced and Minnesota Crookston.
Looking ahead, UC Merced will play another first-time opponent at The Cougar Classic when the Bobcats play Bemidji State on Friday, September 4 at 2:00pm inside The Sports Center in San Marcos, Calif.
