COLLEGE ROUNDUP, Oct. 26-Nov. 1: Winter sports getting down to business
Nov. 2—It's finally that time of year when conjecture will give way to evidence, and unscored scrimmages to on-court results.
All four basketball teams at Bakersfield College and Cal State Bakersfield will be in action between Thursday and Saturday. By this time next week, each will have played its first regular season game.
In other words, winter sports are back.
The CSUB men will host Antelope Valley for an Education Day exhibition Thursday morning, in advance of their official tip-off Monday against NAIA foe San Diego Christian. For the women's team, it's a Biola exhibition Saturday and then — in a particularly dramatic transition — USC on the road Tuesday.
The BC women host Reedley Thursday night for their home opener, while the Renegade men take on Santa Barbara at noon Saturday.
To top it all off, CSUB wrestling will be back in action at the Menlo Open on Sunday.
Bakersfield College
Football: It's hard to parse the Renegades' bizarre road loss at Long Beach, which dropped them out of first place in their division. On the one hand, BC's offense was profoundly ineffective on third down and erratic through the air. On the other, the defense kept the Renegades in the game and earned them a 7-point lead and the ball in the fourth quarter, as they simply weren't able to put away the Vikings as Long Beach walked off with a 23-17 overtime win. Now 4-4, BC hopes to regroup in advance of Saturday's road tilt with East Los Angeles.
Men's soccer: The unbeaten streak is now five games, following BC's second win over Canyons in the span of three weeks. This time, Jose Medina, Anthony Miron and Angel Sandoval tallied one goal each in a 3-0 victory over the Cougars to bring the Renegades to 6-6-5 on the year. Three matches remain, beginning Friday at home against Citrus.
Volleyball: A demoralizing sweep loss against a resurgent Canyons squad didn't deter the Renegades for long, as they came back two days later and posted a sweep of their own on the road at Glendale. Kya Jones equaled a season high with 23 digs to earn Athlete of the Week honors from BC and help the team boost its record to 10-8 entering Wednesday night.
Women's soccer: BC earned a pair of key points on the road heading into the home stretch, drawing 1-1 with Santa Monica Friday and Canyons Tuesday. Crystal Ramos Rosales and Olga Amador scored 80th-minute equalizers for the cardiac Renegades, who now sit at 4-4-3 with 22 goals scored and 22 allowed in conference play. A road fixture against Glendale on Friday will give them a chance to get back in the win column.
Wrestling: After a dominant 44-12 win over Cuesta, complete with four pins, to advance to 4-0 in conference last week, the Renegade wrestlers had Wednesday night's home dual against West LA postponed due to "traveling team positive Covid-19 cases and potential exposure," per an email sent out by BC coach Marcos Austin. That meet was intended to be BC's first home event of the year; instead, the Renegades will next host a conference tournament on Nov. 11.
Miscellaneous and looking ahead: Cross-country is slated to host the SoCal Championship at Kern County Soccer Park Friday ... Women's golf finished second in the final round of conference play Monday at Buenaventura Golf Course, in advance of the SoCal Regionals in Chino beginning this weekend.
Cal State Bakersfield
Men's soccer: Big West Conference play was unkind to the Roadrunners all season, and Cal Poly didn't let up on the final match day of the year, edging CSUB 3-2 on Jalen Atkinson's 89th-minute winner to nullify a brace by Carlos Armendariz in his final game. CSUB finished the year with a winless conference record at 0-8-1.
Volleyball: The first two matchups of the season's second half weren't kind to CSUB, as it lost 3-0 in Long Beach and 3-1 in Irvine, despite a career-high 16 kills from Bakersfield native Ava Palm in the latter match. The Roadrunners fell to 5-19 entering a home date with UC Santa Barbara Friday.
Women's soccer: The young Roadrunners also saw their season come to an end last Thursday with a 2-1 defeat in Fullerton, with senior Chloe Sizemore scoring late. CSUB needed a win and some help to reach the Big West playoffs but fell short. The 4-8-6 (2-3-5 Big West) campaign represented a dramatic improvement from the offensive struggles of the previous season, as four players (Regielly Halldorsdottir, Penny Smith, Kalea Eichenberger and Jette Zimmer) earned some form of all-conference honor, although the Roadrunners still went all season without a road win.
Miscellaneous and looking ahead: CSUB announced that it will host baseball coach Bianca Smith at Stockdale Country Club on Dec. 1 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Title IX ... cross-country wrapped up its season in Riverside last Saturday, led by Helena Valentic and Neyda Martinez, as the team finished last but cut its overall time from the 2021 season ... the CSUB swimmers compete at Pacific Saturday ... the women's golf team is headed back into winter training in advance of its spring season, after finishing eighth of 13 teams in Hawaii last week.
Reporter Henry Greenstein can be reached at 661-395-7374. Follow him on Twitter: @HenryGreenstein.
