CSUN Closes Non-Conference Slate with Three Matches in Utah
9/14/2016 9:53:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
MATADORS THIS WEEK:
(BYU/UVU Classic)
MATCH #10:
CSUN Matadors (3-6) at No. 9 BYU Cougars (9-0)
Friday, Sept. 16, 2016Â - 6:00 p.m. PDT
Smith Fieldhouse (5,000) - Provo, Utah
Live Stats
Live Video
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNWVB
MATCH #11:
CSUN Matadors (3-6) vs. UNLV Rebels (9-0)
Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016Â - 9:00 a.m. PDT
Smith Fieldhouse (5,000) - Provo, Utah
Live Stats
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNWVB
MATCH #12:
CSUN Matadors (3-6) at Utah Valley Wolvernes (4-6)
Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016Â - 4:00 p.m. PDT
UCCU Center (2,000) - Orem, Utah
Live Stats
Live Video
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNWVB
Weekly Match Notes (PDF)             Â
FORÂ STARTERS
The CSUN women's volleyball team returns to the Mountain Time Zone for the second straight week as the Matadors travel to Utah third weekend to take on No. 9 BYU (9-0), UNLV (9-0) and Utah Valley (4-6). The matches represent CSUN's final non-conference contests as Big West Conference play opens Sept. 22 at UC Irvine. The Matadors are coming off a rough weekend as they dropped three straight matches at the UniWyo Invitational in Laramie, WY. CSUN fell to Eastern Washington (3-0), Wyoming (3-0) and Samford (3-1).
FOLLOW YOUR MATADORS ONLINE
All three matches in Utah will feature live stats (links on the women's volleyball schedule page at GoMatadors.com) while Friday's CSUN-BYU match and Saturday's CSUN-Utah Valley match will also be live streamed. All Matador home matches this season will be streamed live on Big West.TV via the CSUN Sports Network. 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.
SCOUTING THE BYU/UVU CLASSICÂ FIELD
BYU (9-0), ranked ninth in this week's AVCA Top 25 Poll, won the Idaho State Invitational last weekend sweeping Boise State, Missouri and Idaho State. The Cougars, 3-0 at home, have dropped just four sets in nine matches. Freshman OH McKenna Miller leads BYU averaging 4.61 kps on .319 hitting. CSUN has never beaten BYU in six matches, the last in 2011 when the Cougars won in four sets in Northridge.
UNLV (9-0), receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25, remained unbeaten winning in four over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and twice over Texas-Arlington. Senior middle Bree Hammel leads the Rebels averaging 4.06 kps. UNLV swept CSUN 25-23, 30-28, 25-19 Sept. 3 in Las Vegas ... Utah Valley (4-6) went 1-2 last weekend at the Hawai'i Outrigger Resorts Challenge.
Utah Valley (4-6) went 1-2 last weekend at the Hawai'i Outrigger Resorts Challenge. The Wolverines lost to No. 14 Hawai'i (3-0) and No. 6 Washington (3-0) before topping Northern Illinois in five. Junior middle Madison Dennison leads UVU with 80 kills while junior OH Lexi Thompson averages a team-high 2.74 kps. Saturday's match will be the third between CSUN and Utah Valley with the series tied at one win apiece. The two teams last met in 2011 in Tucson, AZ, a 3-1 Wolverine win.
DIAZÂ NAMED ALL-TOURNAMENT IN WYOMING
Junior Rachel Diaz made it four different Matadors in three weeks to earn all-tournament honors. Diaz earned her first career honor in Wyoming after pounding a career-high 14 kills in .455 hitting in CSUN's 3-1 loss to Samford. Diaz follows up Julie Haake and Lauren Conati who were named to the UNLV Rebel Challenge all-tournament team and Aeryn Owens who was named at the season-opening Pepperdine Asics Invitational.Â
"Rachel did a very good job," said head coach Jeff Stork "Her best match was against Samford where she had 14 kills on 22 attacks which is ridiculous. She's serving consistently well and is even digging some balls when given the opportunity."
CONATI CLOSES IN ON 1,000 CAREER ASSISTSÂ
Junior Lauren Conati needs just 60 assists to reach 1,000 for her Matador career. With 53 assists, Conati will pass Steffi Miller (2012-14) and take over sixth place on the CSUN rally scoring era assists list. Nadine Nickel (4,798) is first on the list followed by Sydney Gedryn (3,532), Sam Orlandini (2,761), Kayla Wright (2,434) and Angela Hupp (1,718). Nickel is CSUN's all-time leader as well with Alison Wool (3,608) second. With 340 assists this season, Conati has already set a new career-high for a single season. She had 309 in 11 matches as a true freshman in 2014 and 291 as a sophomore last season.Â
ROAD WARRIORS
With nine matches under their belt, the Matadors are more than halfway through their season-opening 14-match road trip. Only the 2014 CSUN team opened a season with more road matches. That season, the Matadors played 15 straight road matches to open the season, a CSUN record. The 2007 Matadors also played 14 straight on the road to begin the season. Among Big West teams, only UC Riverside is playing 14 road matches to open the 2016 season.
COACHES CORNER
Matador head coach Jeff Stork shares his thoughts each week on the team, this week's matches and other topics.
On three matches in Wyoming: "Obviously we didn't play well against Eastern Washington, so we'll forget about that one very quickly. I thought we played well and did some very good things against Wyoming. We're close in sets, it just comes down to one or two plays per set. We need to work on being a little more consistent throughout the set."Â
On finishing up the non-conference schedule this week: "BYU and UNLV are undefeated but we have to go in and be ready to play at a high level. We've got to mentally prepare for three tough matches. We've got to focus on ourselves and if we're not mentally and physically prepared, that's where it starts to be an issue."Â
MATADORS: THIS & THAT
Redshirt freshman Melissa Eaglin is CSUN's top blocker through the first nine matches. Eaglin has 29 total blocks, including five solo stuffs, for a team-leading average of 0.83 blocks per set ... True freshman Morgan Salone picked up her first collegiate kill against Wyoming and came back with a pair of kills against Samford. Junior Nickeisha Williams connected for a season-high four kills against Eastern Washington. Sophomore Nada Dragovic connected for eight kills on 11 swings for a career-high .545 hitting clip against Samford ... After a rough offensive weekend in Wyoming, the Matadors dropped from third to sixth in the Big West in team hitting percentage. CSUN began the weekend at .227 but dropped to .195 following the three matches ... After not playing a single straight-set match in their first four matches this season, the Matadors have now played four three-set matches in their last five contests. CSUN is 1-3 in three sets this season ... At 3-6, the Matadors are two wins ahead of the 2015 squad which was 1-8 through nine matches ... Although CSUN has played nine matches away from home, the Matadors have yet to win a true road match. CSUN lost at Pepperdine (3-2), UNLV (3-0) and Wyoming (3-0) but will have two opportunities to win a road match this week playing at BYU and Utah Valley.
UP NEXT
Following the BYU/UVU Invitational this weekend, the Matadors return to Northridge to begin preparations for their Big West opener, Sept. 22 at UC Irvine. CSUN will then turn around and head north to complete the week with a Sept. 24 match at UC Davis. After 14 straight road matches, the Matadors will finally play a home match Sept. 30 as UC Santa Barbara comes to The Matadome for CSUN's 2016 home opener. Â
#GoMatadors
