The CSUN women’s volleyball team was defeated at home 3-2 by the Cal State University, Bakersfield Roadrunners Friday night.

The Matadors began by taking charge and securing their first point with a kill from CSUN middle blocker Iye Okolo. The first set started off very close between the Roadrunners and the Matadors; ultimately, the Matadors lost the first set with the final score of 25-18.

In the second set, the Matadors gained their first point due to a bad set by Roadrunners middle blocker Defne Yanik. The Matadors and Roadrunners played a very tight game, staying neck and neck in the point system, with the Roadrunners ultimately taking the win 25-22.

The Matadors came back fighting harder than before and turned the tide of momentum during the third set. Matadors began the set with the leading point due to a kill by outside hitter Julia Bazylevych and stayed in the lead for the rest of the set, ending in a win of 25-18.

The Matadors began the fourth set behind with the Roadrunners taking the lead with a 3-0 score. The Matadors, however, were able to come back to a tying score of 12-12 with the Roadrunners, ultimately taking the lead in the set and winning with a 25-15 score, tying up the match.

The Matadors began dominating the Roadrunners in the fifth set, starting off with the lead score of 4-1. The Matadors ramped up the momentum and stayed in the lead for the majority of the set with a score of 14-10. Towards the end of the set, the Matadors began to lose momentum and were unable to gain the last remaining point needed. The Roadrunners ultimately took the win 16-14 against the Matadors.

Matadors head coach Aquiles Montoya declined to comment on the result of the game.

While the result was not what the Matadors had worked for, the crowd certainly enjoyed the lengthy, hard-fought match.

“Tonight was a very exciting game. I thought the team did a really good job of coming back, being down two sets, but it was a really tough loss at the end,” said spectator Dan Ponce. ”Volleyball is kind of like that. It’s a game of mistakes that sometimes don’t go away. But I think they’re figuring some things out, and I think the rest of the season is going to turn around for us.”

The Matadors will be playing next against Cal State Fullerton on Friday, Oct. 30, 2026 at 6 p.m. The match will be streamed on ESPN+.

Editor’s Note: The photo credit incorrectly spelled the photographer’s name. This issue was fixed on Oct. 27, 2026.