Richards finished with 23 kills, a .422 hitting percentage, nine digs, and four block assists. Sarah Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) contributed 16 kills and 10 digs, and Jamie Mellies (Henderson, Nev.) ran a solid offense, finishing with 40 assists, three kills, two service aces, 11 digs, and three block assists. Defensively, Jordan Keller (Mukilteo, Wash.) again led the way at the net with seven total blocks, followed by Allison Farley (Happy Valley, Ore.) with five block assists, and Emily Deleissegues (Aromas, Calif.) led the back line with 16 defensive digs.
"It's tough to play the same team twice. Both teams played with more offensive firepower tonight," head coach Shannon Ellis said. "Big thanks to our men's soccer team for coming out. Seeing some red in the stands really helped us keep our energy up."
Cal State Bakersfield (0-27) scored four unanswered points early in the first set to take a 7-4 lead, followed by a 5-0 run that included three kills and a block assist by Lindy DeGeare to pull ahead, 12-6. A 7-2 Roadrunner scoring run further extended the home team's lead to 19-10, and Cal State Bakersfield closed out the set with a kill by Danielle Gong and a service ace by Alysia Baker.
The Redhawks recovered early in the second set, scoring nine unanswered points to open an 11-3 advantage. A 6-1 Seattle U run gave the visitors a double-digit lead, and two kills by Richards as well as one kill each from Janet Beckerman (Bellevue, Wash.) and Jaeckel allowed the Redhawks to win the set and tie the match.
Nobody was able to extend an advantage past one point in the third set until consecutive kills by Richards and a block from Farley and Mellies put the Redhawks ahead, 9-7. Four unanswered points by Cal State Bakersfield put the home team ahead, 14-12, but a Seattle U 5-0 run that included two kills by Jaeckel put the Redhawks back on top, 19-15. The Roadrunners pulled back into a tie, but Seattle U pulled away, punctuated by back-to-back kills by Richards, to earn the set and the match lead.
Seattle U scored the first five points of the fourth set, thanks in part to back-to-back blocks by Richards and Keller. Four straight Roadrunner points cut the Seattle U lead to three at 10-7, with three unanswered points by Cal State Bakersfield later in the set cut its deficit to two at 16-14. Ahead 21-18, Seattle U closed out the set and the match with four straight points, punctuated by a service ace by Lani Beadle (Seattle, Wash.), her second ace of the match.
Haleigh Haratyk led the Roadrunners with 14 kills, plus she earned seven digs, while DeGeare finished with eight kills and 15 defensive digs. Gong contributed 29 assists, four kills, six digs, and three total blocks, and Lindsay Toone led all players with 21 defensive digs.
The six-match winning streak is the longest for Seattle U since the team went on a seven-match winning streak from Aug. 26 through Sept. 2 of 2006. The Redhawks have not won five true road matches in a row since winning the first 10 road matches of the 2002 campaign.
Seattle University (15-12) will have 12 days off before hosting the Independent Tournament at the Connolly Center. On Friday, Nov. 19, Seattle U will face Cal State Bakersfield at 11 a.m. and North Carolina Central at 7 p.m., with a match between CSUB and NCCU taking place in between at 2:30 p.m. There will be two matches Saturday, Nov. 20, with a semifinal at 1 p.m. and the tournament championship at 6 p.m.