KANSAS CITY, Mo. - No. 1 NM State swept past No. 2 CSU Bakersfield (25-22, 25-23, 25-16) in the championship match of the WAC Tournament Saturday to earn the WAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Tournament MVP Gwen Murphy led all players with 12 kills on .435 hitting to go along with three blocks.
The Aggies hit .350 on the match, compared to the .210 of the Roadrunners. NM State also out-blocked CSU Bakersfield 7-3.
Andrea Tauai posted a double-double of 10 kills and 11 digs, while Sasha-Lee Thomas finished with 10 kills on .692 hitting.
The Roadrunners were led by Kelsee Sawyer with 11 kills and Carol Grasso with 10. Luiza Martins was just shy of a double-double, finishing with 27 assists and nine digs.
After six ties to start the first set, the Aggies scored five straight points to take a 17-12 lead and force a Roadrunner timeout. CSUB cut it to three seven times, before scoring two straight to cut the Aggie lead to two, 23-21, but NM State went on to a 25-22 win. The Aggies out-hit the Roadrunners .323 to .139 on the set and out-blocked CSUB 3-0.
The second set was played tightly throughout, with 16 ties before Murphy scored three of the last four points and had eight kills on the set to lead the Aggies to a 25-23 victory. NM State hit .349 on the set.
The Aggies dominated the third set, jumping out to a 7-4 lead to force a CSUB timeout. NM State built its lead to as many as nine (20-11) before going on to the 25-16 win.
All-Tournament Team
Luiza Martins, CSU Bakersfield
Bojana Mitrovic, UTRGV
Martina Samadan, Seattle U
Kelsee Sawyer, CSU Bakersfield
Andrea Tauai, NM State
MVP: Gwen Murphy, NM State