UC Riverside
4-16,0-9Big West
California Baptist
4-16,1-8Big West
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California Baptist | 25 | 22 | 23 | 25 | 15 | 3 |
| UC Riverside | 18 | 25 | 25 | 18 | 10 | 2 |
10/23/2026 8:51:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Highlanders drop five-set heartbreaker to CBU
RIVERSIDE, Calif. - UC Riverside (4-16, 0-9 Big West) squared off in its first Crosstown Showdown of the year on Friday night at the SRC Arena with a 3-2 loss (18-25, 25-22, 25-23, 18-25, 10-15) to California Baptist (4-16, 1-7 Big West).
UC Riverside's 140 attacks on Friday were the most by the Highlanders in a Big West match this season while McKenna Giles tied a career high with 15 digs.
UCR got on the board with a hitting error from the Lancers, preceded by Malia Tanksley's easy dump and another CBU attacking error. Either side's biggest lead early was a 6-3 Highlander advantage, and the trend continued with the visitors looking at a 15-12 at the first media break.
The two sides traded points until Elena Kasavica served up an ace and Casi Doll went down the line, cutting CBU's lead to 20-18.
UCR jumped out to a 5-3 lead in set two after an ace from Zeynep Belgutay. McKenna Giles added UC Riverside's third ace of the night later as the lead grew to 10-6. A second ace from Belgutay led to a CBU timeout at 15-12 UCR with the Highlanders hitting .462 in set two.
The blows kept coming for UC Riverside, who rode a 5-1 run into another Lancer break at 18-13.
Doll broke UCR out of a late-set slump with her fifth kill, then she and Belgutay rose up for the Highlanders' first block of the night at the most opportune time to make it 23-20. UC Riverside sided out for set point out of a timeout with a thundering kill from Doll.
Doll and Belgutay combined for their second block to give UCR a 7-5 lead in set three. UCR bucked a slow string of play out of a timeout, taking a 5-0 run to a 12-12 tie with Tanksley's fifth kill. A hitting error gave the Highlanders their first lead in the set since 7-6.
All the post-timeout success added up to an 11-1 run from UC Riverside put the Highlanders in the drivers' seat at 18-13. CBU worked its way back into the set before UCR sided out for the 2-1 lead.
UC Riverside held the Lancers to .146 hitting in set three while Tanksley led the way with four kills.
UCR stumbled out of set four until Belgutay logged her fifth and sixth kills in the midst of a 4-0 run. Juliette D'Eliseo and Evelyn Hendrix blocked the Lancers at the antenna at 10-8.
Tanksley returned to the kill register in set four to trim CBU's lead to three at 14-11, but errors did the Highlanders in as California Baptist forced set five.
Sariah Johnson gave the Highlanders a 2-1 lead in set five, and Barron tied the frame at five apiece with UCR's eighth ace of the night. Tanksley and Hendrix stuffed CBU at 10-9, and after a service error, the Highlanders sided out with Johnson's kill down the line before CBU closed the match.
UCR turns around a quick weekend with match two of the two-day Crosstown Showdown on Saturday, October 24, traveling to CBU for a 6:00 pm match on ESPN+.
