California State University Northridge Athletics
CSUN Readies for Road Tests at No. 23 Cal Poly, UCSB
10/18/2017 2:56:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
MATADORS THIS WEEK:
MATCH #20 (Big West #8):
CSUNÂ Matadors (10-9, 4-3Â Big West) @ No. 23 Cal Poly Mustangs (17-2, 7-0 Big West)
Friday, Oct. 20, 2017 - 7 p.m. PDT
Mott Athletics Center (3,032) - San Luis Obispo, CA
Live Stats
Live Video
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNWVB
MATCH #21 (Big West #9):
CSUN Matadors (10-9, 4-3 Big West) @ UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (4-15, 3-4 Big West)
Saturday, Oct. 21, 2017 - 7 p.m. PDT
The Thunderdome (6,000) - Santa Barbara, CA
Live Stats
Live Video
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNWVB
Weekly Match Notes (PDF)             Â
FORÂ STARTERS
The CSUN women's volleyball team (10-9, 4-3 Big West) opens the second half of the Big West season this week as the Matadors head up the coast this week for road tests at No. 23 Cal Poly (17-2, 7-0 Big West) and UC Santa Barbara (4-15, 3-4 Big West). CSUN, coming off a tough five-set loss to Hawai'i at home, is 3-4 in seven road matches this season but has won two of three Big West road contests.  Â
FOLLOW YOUR MATADORS ONLINE
Both matches this week will be streamed live on Big West TV and live stats will also be available for each match. Friday's match at Cal Poly will also feature an audio broadcast (link available on the women's volleyball schedule page at GoMatadors.com).
All home matches this season will also 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 OPPONENTS
Cal Poly (17-2, 7-0 Big West) has won 12 straight after winning in four sets at UC Santa Barbara on Saturday. The 23rd-ranked Mustangs are led by sisters Torrey and Adlee Van Winden who average 4.75 and 3.78 kills per set respectively. Adlee is the current Big West Player of the Week after putting down 18 kills to go with seven digs and seven blocks at UCSB. The Mustangs have played just two home matches this season. Cal Poly has won five straight in the series since CSUN's last win in 2014. The Matadors trail by the slim margin of 32-26 in the all-time series with the Mustangs.
UC Santa Barbara (4-15, 3-4 Big West) improved to 3-4 in conference with a 3-1 win at UC Davis on Tuesday. Senior OH Lindsey Ruddins, who leads the Gauchos averaging 5.48 kps, had a match-high 26 kills against the Aggies. Ruddins leads the Big West in kills while UCSB ranks eighth in the conference in hitting. The Matadors topped the Gauchos 3-1 in Northridge on Sept. 29 to snap a mini streak of two straight UCSB wins. The Matadors are 3-20 all-time vs. the Gauchos in Santa Barbara.
OWENS CLOSING IN ON 1,000 CAREER KILLS
With 24 kills against Hawai'i last week, junior Aeryn Owens is now within 32 kills of becoming the 13th player in CSUN history with 1,000 career kills. Owens, who has a team-high 347 kills this season, heads into Friday's match at Cal Poly with a career total of 968 kills. Owens has been the Matador leader in kills in all 19 matches this season and is within 29 kills of surpassing the career-high 375 kills she posted in 2016. In 2015, Cieana Stinson became the latest Matador hitter to reach 1,000 career kills, Stinson finished her career ranked seventh in CSUN history with 1,213 kills.
| 1. | Laura Walter (1998-01) | 1,694 |
| 2. | Missy Clements (1991-94) | 1,464 |
| 3. | Kathleen Dixon (1987-90) | 1,326 |
| 4. | Nancy Nicholls (1989-92) | 1,251 |
| 5. | Natalie Allen (2010-14) | 1,215 |
| 5. | Casey Hinger (2011-14) | 1,215 |
| 7. | Cieana Stinson (2012-15) | 1,213 |
| 8. | Alexis Cormier (1998-01) | 1,196 |
| 9. | Mahina Haina (2010-13) | 1,181 |
| 10. | Angela Hupp (2006-09) | 1,122 |
| 11. | Nancy Ma (1996-98) | 1,030 |
| 12. | Ana Khristich (1991-94) | 1,004 |
CONATI, SATO CLIMB CSUNÂ CAREER LISTSÂ
Seniors Lauren Conati and Katie Sato are quickly closing in on the CSUN top five in career assists and digs respectively. After posting 39 assists against Hawai'i last week, Conati has upped her career total to 2,336, just 98 assists from entering the all-time top five. Kayla Wright is currently fifth with 2,434 assists from 2005-08. Fellow senior Katie Sato is also making headway on the CSUN career digs list. With 14 digs against Hawai'i last week, Sato now has 1,205 career digs. She passed Jessika Hammerich (1,180) into eighth place and is now just 23 digs from leapfrogging three players into the CSUN all-time top five.Â
MARKLEÂ SECOND IN THEÂ BIG WEST IN ACES
After two weeks in the top spot, junior defensive specialist Kristey Markle slipped to second in the Big West lead in aces this week. Markle had one ace against Hawai'i and is now averaging 0.41 aces per set, which is just behind UC Irvine's Harlee Kekauoha who leads at 0.43 saps. The junior from Trabuco Canyon has a career-best 30 aces in 71 sets. Markle has already matched her career total from the past two seasons, she had 10 aces in 2015 and 19 last season.
DOUBLE FIGURE WINS ACHIEVED
For the 12th time under Jeff Stork and 37th time in program history, CSUN has won at least 10 matches. Only four times in his 16 seasons has Stork failed to post double figure win totals (2005, 2008, 2009 and 2015). The program record for wins in one season is 39, set by Walt Ker's 1984 team. Ker's 1990 team set the CSUN Div. I record for most wins with 29 while the Matadors' highest win total in Stork's tenure was 24 in 2013.  Â
COACHES CORNER
Matador head coach Jeff Stork shares his thoughts each week on the team, this week's matches and other topics.
On a challenging road trip this week: "Obviously we've played both of these teams before so we know more about them and what they're trying to do. I think our team is making a few more changes than some other teams as we continue to maximize our chances of coming up with wins. Cal Poly is leading the conference and UC Santa Barbara is also trying to maximize their personnel. These are two good teams so it will be two good tests for our team."
CSUN ON ESPN3
The Big West Conference announced Monday, Aug. 28 its fall ESPN3 streaming schedule and CSUN will be featured twice at home. The first time the Matadors appeared was last Satuday against Hawai'i. The second appearance for CSUN will be Oct. 28 when the Matadors host UC Davis at 7 p.m. Â
UP NEXT
After a brief two-match road trip this week, the Matadors returns to The Matadome Oct. 27 to host UC Irvine which opens a stretch where CSUN will play four of its next five matches at home. The Matadors will also host UC Davis, Cal State Fullerton and UC Riverside around a single road match at Hawai'i on Nov. 3.
#GoMatadors
