BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – UC Riverside (7-11, 3-5 Big West) capped off a busy weekend with its second match in 24 hours, fending off Cal State Bakersfield (4-16, 1-7 Big West), 3-2, on Saturday afternoon at the Icardo Center.
Vanessa Imoh made her third UCR start and first since September with a career-high 12 kills on Saturday. UC Riverside also racked up a season-high 90 digs while allowing its second lowest hitting percentage of the season (.166).
The Highlanders also saw career days from Mia Delahoussaye (20 digs), Layla Hooks (11 kills), Kylie Proctor (4 kills, 5 blocks), and Rachel Schwartz (27 assists, 10 digs). Collectively, UCR logged its second match in its last three with three double doubles being recorded.
Imoh and Ewalefo notched back-to-back kills in the middle of set one before Proctor, making her first collegiate start, sparked an 11-5 run to keep UCR in the fold. Proctor and Hooks doubled up for nearly half of the Highlanders' kills in set one as part of a collective .263 hitting clip.
Imoh shot the narrow angle to start set two with a 1-0 lead before Makena Tong made it 2-0 with an ace. Imoh logged two early kills in the set as UCR traded blows with the hosts at 6-6. The Highlanders snagged momentum and sided out with Hooks' fifth kill of the match at 9-8 before Proctor rose up for a solo block.
UC Riverside's defense held the Runners to .083 hitting through set two's first media break with a 15-12 lead, much to the credit of UCR's middles. Proctor and company continued anchoring the set two turnaround on both sides of the ball, and hit .225 while holding CSUB to .100 hitting with 10 errors.
UCR held a steady 15-9 lead at the set three media break on the back of a 6-0 run and momentum in their hands. The defense remained on par while Delahoussaye reached her third double-double of the season and second in as many weekends. CSUB mounted a mini comeback at the end of set three, but Hooks, Bowyer, and Ewalefo clapped back with UCR's final three points.
UC Riverside tied set four on a couple attack errors at 9-9 and 10-10, taking a brief lead on a third. The Highlanders forced eight attack errors in set four and were led by Imoh with three kills in the frame before the Roadrunners forced a decisive set.
UCR rebounded from a 4-2 deficit in set five and stayed in charge from there. Misu Nguyen delivered back-to-back aces to put UC Riverside ahead at 11-6 ahead of Ewalefo's winning kill.
The Highlanders return to action on Thursday, October 23 to host Cal Poly at 7:00 pm at the SRC Arena. Tickets are on sale now at GoHighlanders.com/tickets.
