Matadors Fall to Cal Poly in Five-Set Battle

By Kiley Arce
CSUN Media Relations

En Español

NORTHRIDGE, CA - A hard-fought battle took place at the Matadome Saturday night, but after five tough sets Cal Poly handed the CSUN women's volleyball team its second home loss in as many nights.

Set scores were 26-28, 29-27, 24-26, 25-14, 15-7 as the visiting Mustangs improved to 8-6 (1-2 Big West). The Matadors fell to 6-10 overall and an even 2-2 in the Big West Conference.

It was the Matadors' ability to find holes in the Mustang defense and a set-winning solo block from junior Lauren Conati that gave CSUN a 28-26 win in the opening set. The Mustangs kept the score close in the second set and changed their offensive tactics to force 18 kills and keep the CSUN defense on their toes.

"They ran a lot of different routes and it was hard for us to keep up after it," commented Conati. "Their hitters were pretty solid so it was hard for us to watch them and adjust."

The Matadors won a long rally late in the third set with a quick tip from Conati to a hole deep in Mustang territory. The point gave CSUN the necessary momentum to stay in reach of clinching the set. A big swing from Nada Dragovic, who totaled 12 kills for the night, tied the set and an ace from junior libero Katie Sato gave the Matadors the lead.

Four set-point opportunities and a decisive spike delivered by freshman Melissa Eaglin, led to a double from Cal Poly handing the 26-24 third set to the Matadors. But relentless pressure at the net from Mustang hitters Adlee Van Winden (24 kills) and junior Raeann Greisen (20 kills, .471 hitting) forced a deciding fifth set after the visitors claimed the fourth set 25-14 fourth.

"We usually win in five and we've been playing a lot of five-set matches lately so we were ready to go after it after the fourth," added Conati. However, the Matador defensive efforts were not enough to hold off the Mustangs as they suffered a 15-7 final set loss.

Sophomore Aeryn Owens led the Matador offense with 19 kills followed by senior Julie Haake with 14 and sophomore Nada Dragovic who also proved to be a force hitting .303 hitting to go with 11 digs. Conati totaled 50 assists to lead the Matador offense and Sato led the defensive push with a match-high 23 digs for the Matadors.

"It was two really good teams playing against each other and it could have gone either way. When it goes to five games, it's really either team so it was just the team that went out and got it which was unfortunately Cal Poly tonight," said Conati.

CSUN will host Hawaii next Thursday at the Matadome at 7 p.m. with the first 300 fans receiving free t-shirts and free food, music and prizes before the match in the F5 parking lot at CSUN.

#GoMatadors

Matadors Fall to Cal Poly in Five-Set Battle

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Team Stats

Aeryn Owens

Julie Haake

Nada Dragovic

Melissa Eaglin

Players Mentioned

Lauren Conati

Nada Dragovic

Melissa Eaglin

Julie Haake

Aeryn Owens

Katie Sato