Matadors at UC Riverside, Home vs. No. 6 Hawai'i This Week
11/3/2015 12:37:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
MATADORS THIS WEEK:
MATCH #23 (Big West Match #11):
CSUN Matadors (5-17, 4-6 Big West) at UC Riverside Highlanders (7-16, 2-8 Big West)
Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2015 - 7:00 p.m. PDT
SRC Arena (8,000) - Riverside, CA
Live Stats
Live Stream
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNWVB
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MATCH #24Â (Big West Match #12):
No. 6 Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine (20-1, 10-0 Big West) at CSUN Matadors (5-17, 4-6 Big West)
Saturday, Nov. 7, 2015 - 7:00 p.m. PDT
The Matadome (2,000) - Northridge, CA
Live Stats
Live Audio
Live Stream
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNWVB
Weekly Match Notes (PDF)             Â
FORÂ STARTERS
The CSUN women's volleyball team (5-17, 4-6 Big West) gets an early start to the week as the Matadors conclude a three-match road trip Tuesday at UC Riverside (7-16, 2-8 Big West) at 7 p.m. CSUN, 0-2 on the current road swing, returns home Saturday to host sixth-ranked Hawai'i (20-1, 10-0 Big West) at 7 p.m.
FOLLOW YOUR MATADORS ONLINE
Both matches this week will be streamed live on BigWest.TV. Both matches will have live stats (link on the women's volleyball schedule page at GoMatadors.com) while Saturday's match vs. Hawai'i will have an additional Rainbow Wahine radio broadcast. All remaining Matador home matches this season will be streamed live through the CSUN Sports Network at BigWest.TV. Conference road matches will also be streamed live. All home matches this season will include live stats coverage at GoMatadors.com. For road matches, related links to the match, including for any live stats, audio and video, will be posted before the match on the women's volleyball schedule page of GoMatadors.com. Fans are also encouraged to check the CSUN Athletics Department's official Twitter feed (@GoMatadors) and the volleyball-specific feed (@CSUNWVB) for news and notes throughout the week as well as updates of matches in progress.
STORY LINES
• The Matadors begin the homestretch of the 2015 season this week as they wrap a three match road trip at UC Riverside before hosting sixth-ranked Hawai'i. Saturday's match vs. the Rainbow Wahine opens a regular season closing stretch where CSUN will play four of its final five matches at home.Â
• Scouting UC Riverside (7-16, 2-8): The Highlanders have dropped eight of their last nine conference matches after opening with a 3-2 win over Cal State Fullerton on Sept. 25. UCR lost in three at home to UC Irvine before pushing Hawai'i to four sets in Honolulu last week. The Highlanders, 2-2 at home this season, are led by senior Helena Peric who averages a team-best 2.86 kills per set. Junior Fabiana Roses is right behind at 2.43 kps for UCR which is hitting .165 as a team.
• Scouting Hawai'i (20-1, 10-0): The sixth-ranked Rainbow Wahine carry an unbeaten conference record into road matches at Long Beach State and CSUN this week. After playing 19 of its first 21 matches this season at home, Hawai'i heads out on the road for its final six regular season matches. Nikki Taylor leads the Rainbow Wahine averaging 4.26 kps which ranks second in the Big West. As a team, Hawai'i leads the conference in five of seven team statistical categories
STINSON SURPASSES 1,000 CAREER KILLS
With her fourth kill against UC Davis on Sept. 26, senior Cieana Stinson became the 12th player in CSUN women's volleyball history to reach 1,000 career kills. Stinson began her final collegiate season with 836 career kills and has added a team-high 283 kills through 22 matches this season. With 1,119 career kills, Stinson currently ranks 10th in CSUN history. She now trails Angela Hupp by just three kills for ninth place on the career list. Stinson became the fourth player in the last three seasons to reach the career milestone. Both Casey Hinger and Natalie Allen reached 1,000 kills in 2014 with Mahina Haina accomplishing the feat in 2013.
DIAZ MAKING AN IMPACT IN THE MIDDLE
After missing five matches with an injury, sophomore middle blocker Rachel Diaz has played her best volleyball since returning to the lineup. Diaz came off the bench to hit .545 with eight kills in CSUN's 3-2 win over UC Santa Barbara on Oct. 24. Then making her first start in over a month, Diaz put down a career-high 11 kills while hitting .625 on a career-high 16 attacks Thursday at UC Davis. The sophomore from King City is now hitting .555 with 24 kills and just four hitting errors over the last three matches.
COACHES CORNER
Matador head coach Jeff Stork shares his thoughts each week on the team, this week's matches and other topics.
"There are a couple of ways the players can look at this. One is 'we're having a difficult season and woe is me' or two, we're playing four matches against the lower half of the conference and look at that as an opportunity to finish strong. Now that we've gone to the 5-1, we have more options but we're always looking to put the best team out there. We're trying to win sets and matches first and foremost."
MATADORS: THIS & THAT
After picking up her first collegiate point with an ace against UC Santa Barbara (Oct. 24), freshman Kristey Markle added four more aces along with 18 digs in matches at UC Davis and UC Irvine last week. Markle had three aces and eight digs, including the final two points of a 28-26 set two win at UC Davis then followed up with 10 digs and one ace at UC Irvine ... Senior Alia Casino started in place of injured libero Katie Sato and had 34 digs and three aces last week ... Sato had started all 20 matches while appearing in all 71 sets prior to being sidelined last week ... Junior setter Maddie Leiphardt recorded a CSUN season-high 55 assists in CSUN's 3-2 loss at UC Davis. Leiphardt continues to rank among the top 10 in the Big West in assists per set (ninth at 6.28). Leiphardt joins Stinson and Sato as the only CSUN players to rank among the Big West top 10 statistically. Stinson currently ranks fifth in kills per set at 3.58 while Sato remains seventh in digs per set at 3.77 ... Saturday's match against No. 6 Hawai'i is the Matadors' sixth chance to upset a ranked team this season. CSUN is 0-5 against teams ranked in the AVCA Top-25 this season after falling to No. 23 Utah, No. 16 Arizona, No. 8 Washington (twice) and No. 8 Hawai'i ... After recording five digs over her first five appearances of the season, freshman Rachel Daily picked up a season-best seven digs at UC Davis. She then posted her first collegiate ace at UC Irvine on Saturday.  Â
UP NEXT
Following the road match at UC Riverside and a home tilt with Hawai'i, the Matadors will remain at home to continue their longest homestand of the season. CSUN will host Cal State Fullerton (Nov. 10), Long Beach State (Nov. 13) and UC Riverside (Nov. 20) over the next three weeks.
