Cal State San Marcos saved three match points, finished a fourth-set comeback and forced UC Merced into a fifth. The final push stopped there. Merced closed the deciding set on a 5-1 run and won the Cougar Classic finale 25-22, 25-18, 17-25, 26-28, 15-9 Saturday at The Sports Center.
The match began with a reversal. CSUSM used an 8-1 run to lead the first set 15-7, only for Merced to answer with an 11-3 surge and tie it at 18. The hosts recovered a 20-18 edge. Merced then took seven of the last nine points, transforming the Cougars' strongest early position into a 25-22 loss.
CSUSM scored the first two points of the second, but Merced replied 6-1. Consecutive Eleanor Brislen aces brought the Cougars level at 6, and the set remained available until another 6-2 Merced run produced an 18-12 advantage. A 25-18 finish left San Marcos one set from a straight-set defeat.
The hosts changed the direction in the third. From 5-5, CSUSM ran off six of seven points, then seven of eight to make the lead 20-11. Merced hit .065 in the set. The Cougars won 25-17 and carried a cleaner offensive shape into a fourth set that became the match's longest.
San Marcos trailed 7-3 and 14-10 in that fourth set. A four-point run later put the Cougars ahead 18-17, and they reached 23-21 before Merced created three separate match points. Kills by Ebony Lewis and Hazel Livingston-Jones extended the night. Addison Kranz and Blayne Seligmiller then delivered consecutive kills for the 28-26 win.
Merced removed the suspense early in the fifth. It scored the first three points and led 8-4 at the side change. A Merced attack error and a Lewis ace drew CSUSM within 10-8. The visitors took five of the remaining six points, ending the comeback before the set could tighten again.
Seligmiller led San Marcos with 13 kills and five blocks. Kranz added 12 kills, while Livingston-Jones had seven kills at a .300 hitting rate and five blocks. Setter Blair Keith recorded 32 assists and 13 digs. Annika Blas-Cedeno made 18 digs, and McKenna Kehoe added 14 digs plus 11 assists.
The team totals show where the final difference accumulated. CSUSM led 8-6 in aces and 9-6 in blocks. Merced had 66 kills to the Cougars' 54, 63 assists to 50 and 92 digs to 71. San Marcos committed 27 attack errors, one fewer than Merced, so the gap came through the visitors completing more swings rather than simply avoiding errors.
The loss moved both teams to 3-4 and ended CSUSM's six-match history against Merced without a defeat. Kranz and Seligmiller made the all-tournament team. Conference play begins Friday at 5 p.m. at home against Cal State East Bay. The finale leaves a usable sequence: the Cougars proved they could climb back, but Merced owned the shorter race after forcing a fifth. The third and fourth sets showed the rally's shape. The fifth showed its limit once San Marcos fell behind at the side change and could no longer lengthen the match.