MERCED, Calif.— The No. 20 Cal State San Marcos volleyball team closed out tournament play undefeated at the UC Merced Holiday Inn Express Invitational, picking up a pair of victories Saturday against Oregon Tech and host UC Merced. The Cougars defeated Oregon Tech 25-20, 25-27, 25-20, 25-17, while beating UC Merced 25-20, 25-17, 25-19.

In the first game against the Owls, Taylor DeGraaf had a monster performance to lead CSUSM, racking up 29 kills and 22 digs. Her kill total was just one short of her own school record set in 2011, and was the most in school history for a match four sets or less.

Markisha Henderson-Diaz also had a breakout performance, recording career bests of 11 kills and five digs to help pace the Cougars. Alyssa Foster dished out 54 assists and 13 digs, while freshman libero Waverly Richards reached the 20 dig mark for the second time in her career.

In the afternoon match facing the host Bobcats, the Cougars showed off their impressive depth by having five athletes with at least four kills, and five athletes with at least six digs. Alyssa Hubbard and Taylor DeGraaf led the team in kills with eight apiece, and freshman Taylor Harris led the Cougars with 17 assists. Richards led all competitors with 19 digs.

"I'm just really proud of how our team is coming together with 11 new players," said head coach Andrea Leonard. "Our depth came through again with Hubbard and Flores coming off the bench to make an impact as well as Harris at setter. We also have players like Richards doing outstanding at libero and Kara Barkdoll playing multiple positions as well— our team is really working hard at supporting each other and making plays."

One area in which the Cougars have particularly shined lately in is in preventing opponents from getting easy kills, holding their two opponents Saturday to a combined .100 hitting percentage. "We've made strides to improve our overall defense, and achieved the goals we set for this weekend specifically," said Leonard.

After four victories in two days in Merced, the team celebrated with In-N-Out before heading back down the highway. The Cougars will have two days to rest before heading on the road again to face University of Redlands Tuesday. With the pair of victories, CSUSM now stands at 8-2 on the season.