CSUN women’s volleyball tried to carry the momentum from Friday night where they beat Cal Poly 3-1, but came up short against California State University, Bakersfield at the Matadome on Saturday, 3-1.

The Matadors are now 4-10 in the Big West Conference, near the bottom of the standings.

CSUN’s outside hitter Taylor Orshoff started the first set with a kill. The Matadors quickly found themselves down after an attacking error by CSUN’s outside hitter Nicole Nevarez. The shot was blocked by CSUB’s Hana Makonova (3-6).

CSUB’s Milica Vukobrat served but hit the net, leading to a service error. CSUN took advantage of this and scored three more points off of two attacking errors by the Roadrunners to tie the game at 10 apiece.

After a kill by Nevarez, the Matadors allowed two kills of their own. They gave up an ace by CSUB’s setter Seleisa Elisaiad, which hit just inside the back line and brought the Matadors down four (14-18).

The Matadors were able to shift momentum and tie the game at 22, but CSUB held off the run and scored three straight points, taking the first set (25-22).

CSUN started the second set with three straight points led by two kills from Orshoff and setter Carisa Barron. The Roadrunners came back with four straight points of their own, which silenced the crowd.

After a perfect service ace from middle blocker Lauryn Anderson, the Matadors took a 7-6 lead. A big rally from CSUN got the crowd on their feet cheering. Nevarez had back-to-back kills that gave CSUN a 14-13 lead.

After a couple of scores, CSUB led 18-17. CSUN went on a four-point run, with three of them being kills assisted by setter Madison Klungel.

Middle blocker Taylor Hunter killed the ball, which found the opposition’s floor quickly and ferociously. This had the crowd on their feet. The set ended on an attack error and the final score was 25-20.

A big rally to begin the third set ended in the Matadors scoring from a bad set up by Vukobrat, but the Matadors were still down 4-2. The Matadors quickly found themselves down 13-6, which forced interim head coach Susie Terrusa to call a timeout in an attempt to rally her team.

After the timeout, CSUN went on a 3-0 run. It was quickly followed by a 2-0 run by CSUB that pushed their lead to six (15-9). Outside hitter Lexi McLeod responded with a strong kill, followed up by a Nevarez kill.

Small mistakes found the Matadors down 18-12. Outside hitter Seyvion Waggoner was trying to be the spark CSUN needed when she had a monster kill that brought them within five.

CSUN found themselves down 22-16, but did not give up. McLeod got a big kill in hopes to turn things around, but the effort was not enough as CSUB scored three straight points, ending the set 25-17.

CSUN was down 2-1 as they headed into the fourth set. Nevarez stepped up and got three kills, all set up from Barron, giving the Matadors a 3-1 lead.

After some back-and-forth in the fourth set, the teams were tied up at seven. CSUN found themselves up 9-8, until CSUB went on a 7-0 run, with three service aces. This run took the Matadors crowd completely out of the game and riled up the Roadrunners’ fans.

CSUN then went on a 8-1 run, giving them a 17-16 lead. Five of the eight points came from kills by Anderson and Nevarez. A crushing kill by Elisaia put CSUB up 20-18. The Matadors found themselves down 21-18 and had to take a timeout. CSUN let the game get out of their hands and lost the final set 25-18.

CSUN’s efforts were not enough to get past CSUB. Orshoff led the team in kills and points and Barron led the team in assists.

After the match, interim coach Terrusa spoke about her overall thoughts on the loss.

“I thought we didn’t play our toughest match tonight,” Terrusa said. “We didn’t serve tough enough to pull [CSUB] out of their system, we blocked well but we didn’t defend very well. I think playing a good match and having a big win last night, we kind of let down a little which is common for an inexperienced team.”

The Matadors are looking to turn things around again on Friday as they travel to take on California State University, Long Beach .