Box Score Box Score

Kara Barkdoll's eye-opening hitting percentage of .762 led Cal State San Marcos volleyball to a 3-set victory over Northwest (IA) on the final day of APU's Cougar Classic Tournament, 28-26, 25-21, 25-15.

CSUSM finishes its first-ever tournament with a 3-2 record.  Northwest falls to 0-3.

Barkdoll also led the team with 16 kills, but she was hardly alone in having a big day on the attack.  Kelli McLin hit a very strong .538 for the match. And Taylor DeGraaf was second on the team with 12 kills.

The Cougars out-lasted Northwest in the first set, taking it 28-26.  CSUSM was down 16-21 at one point, but won 7 consecutive points, the last 5 of which were a result of Barkdoll kills.  After Northwest staved off a couple of set points, Erin Talafus closed things out with a kill off one of Alyssa Foster's game-high 43 assists.

In the second set, CSUSM once again rallied late, this time for six straight points to turn a 15-18 deficit into a 21-18 lead, and ultimately a 25-21 win.  That perhaps broke Northwest's spirit, as the Cougars cruised in the third set to a 25-15 win and victory in the match.

As a team, Coach Andrea Leonard's Cougars hit an outstanding .331, compared to Northwest's .202.  CSUSM posted 62 digs, led by DeGraaf's 17 and Nichole May's 14.

CSUSM volleyball will look to follow up its successful debut on Wednesday when they face off against #9-ranked Concordia University in Irvine.