SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The University of California, Merced women's volleyball team finished The Cougar Classic with a bang, sweeping Saint Michael's and taking down the host Cal State San Marcos in five sets on Saturday inside The Sports Center.
Set scores vs. Saint Michael's | 25-17, 25-18, 25-20
Set scores vs. Cal State San Marcos | 25-22, 25-18, 17-25, 26-28, 15-9
Five Bobcats registered career-high's throughout the day and Callie Neufeld and Kyra Miller turned in stat lines against Cal State San Marcos that have rarely been mirrored. UC Merced as a team posted multiple statistical superlatives as well.
Neufeld, Miller, and Jazmine Banks all earned Cougar Classic All-Tournament Team honors.
Neufeld broke the UC Merced freshman single-match kills record with a career-high 26 kills against Cal State San Marcos. She also set the Bobcats new kills record in a true road match and turned in the most kills by any Bobcat since Dominique Andrews in 2018. Overall, her 26 kills are the fourth most by any Bobcat in program history. Neufeld also tallied 16 digs and is the first CCAA freshman since Karla Santos (Cal State LA) in 2017 with 26+ kills and 16+ digs in the same match. Neufeld added an ace and a block to her stat line.
Miller tallied a career-high 53 assists in the five-set match at CSUSM, the most by any Bobcat since Brooke Wheeler on November 10, 2016. Miller's assists total is also tied for the third most assists by any Bobcat all-time. She also collected 19 digs and put away five kills. Miller became the first Bobcat in program history with at least 53 assists, 19 digs, and five kills and is the first CCAA player since at least 2016 with those numbers. She added two service aces.
Jazmine Banks collected 27 more digs against the host team to tie the second highest digs output of her career, the most in a true road match. The senior is the first player in the CCAA this year with multiple matches of 25+ digs. With her outing, she passed Serena Choi for ninth in program history with 645 career digs. Banks added five assists in the five-set win.
More player notes against Cal State San Marcos: Yahaira Vazquez registered a career-high 13 kills, while Kaitlyn Anderson came away with a career-high 16 digs. Vazquez needed just four sets for her career-high. Morgan Wilson recorded eight kills, three blocks (two solo), and a career-high tying five digs. Other notables include nine kills for Natalie Riley and seven digs and two blocks for Vazquez.
Dr. Anitra Brockman's team put up 66 kills on 63 assists overall against CSUSM, the team's highest kills total since September 21, 2023 at PUC. The Bobcats 63 assists were the most since October 27, 2018, against Marymount, while the Bobcats 92 digs marked the their most since October 29, 2023 at Westcliff.
UC Merced went up 2-0 in the match before CSUSM fought back to force a fifth set. In the opening set, the Bobcats overcame a 15-7 deficit to take a 1-0 match lead. Neufeld had six kills in the first set to set the tone of what would ultimately become the freshman kills record. The Bobcats led by as many as eight points in set two while operating at a .325 success rate (18/5/40), going up 2-0 in the match. After dropping sets three and four, the Bobcats led wire-to-wire in the fifth set to earn their first ever win vs. Cal State San Marcos. UC Merced maintained a season-high .211 hitting percentage throughout the contest.
Earlier in the day, the Bobcats earned their first sweep of the season with a dominant showing against Saint Michael's. The Bobcats limited Saint Michael's to just a .045 hitting percentage, marking the Bobcats first time holding an opponent under .100 since November 8, 2024. The Bobcats were also sound behind the service line with a season-high eleven service aces, the most since November 8, 2024.
The Bobcats led wire-to-wire in the first and second sets, highlighted by scoring seven straight points to begin the match and taking a double-figure lead as early as the 19-9 mark in the second set. UC Merced led for good in the third set after breaking a 10-10 tie.
Morgan Wilson led the Bobcats against Saint Michael's with ten kills on a .471 hitting percentage. Yahaira Vazquez added ten kills and five digs, while Natalie Riley had nine kills and tied her career-high for the third straight match with 13 digs.
Miller tallied 34 assists, four digs, and three service aces and passed Serena Choi for fourth in program history with 96 career service aces. Jazmine Banks delivered eleven digs and five service aces, the most aces by any Bobcat in a match since she had seven aces on November 8, 2024. Kylah Guzman contributed five kills and her first two aces of the season.
Up next, UC Merced will host Jessup in the 2026 home opener on Tuesday, September 8 at 5:00pm inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.
