VB | Gaels Fall to Roadrunners in Five Set Thriller

Tuesday, September 15

Moraga, CA

2:00 PM

Saint Mary's College of California

4-6,0-0WCC

CSU Bakersfield

4-5,0-0Big West

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
CSU Bakersfield	18	25	23	25	15	3
Saint Mary's (CA)	25	18	25	21	9	2

Makenzie Jackson: 8 Kills, 1 Error, 20 Attacks, 0.350 Att%

Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

VB | Gaels Fall to Roadrunners in Five Set Thriller

9/15/2026 5:55:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Highlights

MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's Volleyball went the distance against Cal State Bakersfield, showing off their offensive fire power, but fell to the Roadrunners 3-2 in a rare Tuesday afternoon battle inside UCU Pavilion. The Gaels finished +13 in total kills, but stout defense from the Roadrunners kept them in each and every point as they were able to walk away with the tightly contested victory.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Everything came up Gaels in the first set, with Saint Mary's taking a 3-2 lead early in the frame, and never relinquishing that lead, all the way to a 25-18 victory. The Roadrunners found themselves within two points late in the set at 20-18, but on the back of an Antonie Kenarova service run, took the final five points of the set to pull ahead 1-0. Kelnarova was the name to know in the opening stanza, with seven kills, three aces and two digs.

Bakersfield returned the favor in set two, taking a 4-0 lead as part of a wire-to-wire set two W at 25-18. The blocking intensity really picked up for CSUB in that set, outblocking the Gaels 5-0. Coming out of the intermission, Saint Mary's looked re-energized and quickly jumped in front, 20-10. The Roadrunners never bowed out of the fight, and clawed back to level at 22s, but Saint Mary's would take three of the final four points in the set to pull ahead, 2-1.

Despite dropping the third set, Bakersfield had taken some positive momentum with their near comeback effort, jumping out to a 6-3 lead in the fourth frame. The Gaels responded to take a lead at 11-10, and again at 14-13, but a quick 4-2 run for CSUB created all the separation that they would need to force a fifth, taking set four 25-21. The fifth set was a wire-to-wire victory for the Roadrunners, who took an early 8-2 lead, and never let up, taking the set and match 15-9 and 3-2 respectively.

GAME NOTES

The Gaels finished with a season-high 63 kills, led by Antonie Kelnarova's career-high 20 kills and Layne Dent's 16. This is the second time that the Gaels have reached 60 kills in a match this season.
Saint Mary's hit at 0.197 for the night, their second best mark of the year. Mackenzie Jackson led the charge with a 0.350 clip (8 Kills, 1 Error, 20 Swings).
Kelnarova added 17 digs to her 20 kills, both team-highs, good for her fourth double-double of the year.
With 69 digs as a team, the Gaels eclipsed 60 digs for the third time in as many weeks. This was a feat that the Gaels couldn't achieve until mid-October a year ago.

UP NEXT
The Gaels will be back in action in approximately 48 hours, taking on New Mexico to open the 2026 Saint Mary's Invitational. Thursday's first serve is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tickets are available at smcgaels.com/tickets and the game can be streamed live on ESPN+.

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