CSUN Rally Falls Short at San Francisco

Friday, September 8

San Francisco, Calif.

6:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

4-3

San Francisco

2-6

CSUN

San Francisco

Photo by: Paul Trafecanty

CSUN Rally Falls Short at San Francisco

9/8/2017 9:04:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

SAN FRANCISCO, CA---CSUN Women's Volleyball rallied from two sets down but fell in the deciding fifth set at San Francisco (2-6) on Friday evening. Aeryn Owens had a match-high 21 kills and collected her sixth double-double on the season as she added 19 digs. Melissa Eaglin chipped in with 11 kills and Lauren Conati had 39 of her team's 55 assists to go along with seven kills and six digs. The loss snapped a four-match winning streak for the Matadors.

Set scores were 21-25, 21-25, 25-23, 25-22, 12-15.

Eaglin hit .273 on 22 swings while Owens finished hitting .241 on 58 total swings. Katie Sato picked up 22 digs in the match while Erin Indermill had 10. Kristey Markle registered three of CSUN's four service aces. The Matadors posted a .149 hitting percentage for the match (61-34-181).

After a back-and-forth start to the first set, the Dons took control and led 21-14 early on in the match. The Matadors trimmed the deficit to 24-21 but Erin Anthony put the set away with a kill off an attack from Sato.

The second set appeared to be going the Matadors' way after they built a 10-2 lead following a kill from Conati and a San Francisco attack error. The Dons would turn the tables, however, outscoring CSUN 14-6 to even the set at 16-16. San Francisco put together another 7-3 run to take its biggest lead of the set at 23-19. Kills from Owens and Nada Dragovic cut the lead to two but the Dons finished off the Matadors 25-21.

Trailing by two sets, the Matadors would not go away quietly. CSUN battled back from an 18-12 deficit in set three with a 9-3 run to even the set at 21-21. Owens gave CSUN the lead with back-to-back kills before the Dons evened the set once more after an Eaglin attack error. The Matadors leaned on Owens to finish off the set as consecutive kills gave CSUN the 25-23 edge.

Both teams hit well in set four as the Matadors finished with a .419 hitting percentage while San Francisco hit .387. CSUN never trailed in the set but the Dons managed to even the score on six separate occasions. The Matadors finally took control late after a a kill from Dragovic gave CSUN a 23-18 lead. After USF pulled to within 24-22, a home service error gave the Matadors the set.

Battling back to force a deciding fifth set, the Matadors fell behind 9-4 before rallying to cut the deficit to 12-9 following a service error from the Dons. CSUN would then score three unanswered to cut the lead to 14-12, which included a kill from Owens. However, San Francisco would put the match away with a kill from Erica Ronda.

For the Dons, Carly Lowry had a team-high 14 kills. San Francisco finished hitting .246 (59-18-167) for the match.

The Matadors continue their stay in the San Francisco Bay Area with contests against Fresno State and Saint Mary's in Moraga on Saturday. CSUN and the Bulldogs will start at 11 a.m. followed by a 7 p.m. meeting with the Gaels.