The Redhawk volleyball team found their way back to the Connolly Center for a match against Cal State Bakersfield to win 3-2 (25-12,25-27, 22-25, 25-20, 15-9) on Friday night to tie the seven-match winning streak from 2006 in the first of two matches for the Independent Tournament.
Cristin Richards (Olympia, Wash.) added to her school record of most kills in a single season by ending the match with 17, bringing her total to 482. Sarah Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) had 12 kills and Janet Beckerman (Bellevue, Wash.) slammed down ten for the Redhawks. Jamie Mellies (Henderson, Nev.) reached the 4,000 assist mark for her career, finishing the match with 45 and bringing her total to 4,036. Emily Deleissegues (Aromas, Calif.) had 19 digs for the Redhawks, followed by Mellies with 12, and Jaeckel and Richards with 11 each.
The Roadrunners were led by Lindy DeGeare’s 15 kills, followed by Haleigh Haratyk’s 13. Tika Smith added ten for CSUB, and Danielle Gong set up 46 assists for the match. Lindsay Toone led in digs with 16 for the Roadrunners.
Seattle U came out blazing in the first set with a 9-2 run on a serving attack by Mellies. Both Mellies and Richards had an ace in the set, and Megan Augustavo (Shoreline, Wash.) served four in a row to take the Redhawks to 15-5. The Roadrunners had a slight surge toward the end of the set, led by Haratyk’s two kills, but Cal State Bakersfield never recovered and the first set ended 25-12 on a kill by Jaeckel.
The second set was a totally different story as CSUB rallied to fight back. Roadrunners DeGeare and Haratyk each had five kills in the set, as did Richards for the Redhawks. The set was a back-and-forth battle with the teams reaching the tie point 12 times. The set ended with an attack error by Jaeckel 25-27.
The third set was much like the second, with the play going back and forth between the teams. The largest lead came at 12-6 with a Richards kill, but the Roadrunners came back with a 6-2 run, led by two kills by DeGeare. The score was tied at 19-19 after another kill by DeGeare, and then a series of attack errors by the Redhawks ended the set in favor of CSUB 22-25.
In the fourth set, the Roadrunners came out early with a 6-3 lead, but the Redhawks regained their momentum and slowly inched their way back. Julia Bonadio (Phoenix, Ariz.) came in for Seattle U and led an attack with five kills in the set, aided by Beckerman’s four. After the score was tied again at 13-13, the Redhawks never looked back and ended the set with a block by Jordan Keller (Mukilteo, Wash.) and Beckerman to win 25-20.
Richards came out with an immediate kill for the Redhawks, and Seattle U jumped ahead 3-0 right away in the fifth. After a CSUB timeout, the Roadrunners came back and were able to tie it at five and again at seven, but Keller and Beckerman put up a strong front at the net to stop CSUB. The Redhawks went on an 8-2 run to finish the set and the match at 15-9.
“It was a tough match. We served pretty well and our block was really big, and we’re looking forward to facing off again tomorrow. We’ll have to bring our A-game,” said head coach Shannon Ellis.
The Redhawks (16-12) will face Cal State Bakersfield (0-29) one more time on Saturday night at 6 p.m.