California State University at Northridge
Cal Poly
CSUN Opens Two-Match Homestand vs. No. 12 Cal Poly
10/17/2018 3:43:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
MATADORS THIS WEEK:
MATCH #20Â (BIG WESTÂ MATCH #8):
Cal Poly Mustangs (17-1, 7-0) vs. CSUN Matadors (6-13, 2-5)
Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2018 - 7 p.m. PDT
The Matadome (2,000) - Northridge, Calif.
Live Stats
ESPN3
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNWVB
MATCH #21 (BIG WESTÂ MATCH #9):
UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (12-8, 4-4) vs. CSUN Matadors (6-13, 2-5)
Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018 - 7 p.m. PDT
The Matadome (2,000) - Northridge, Calif.
Live Stats
Big West TV
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNWVB
FORÂ STARTERS
The CSUN Women's Volleyball team (6-13, 2-5 Big West) returns home Friday to open up a brief two-match homestand against 12th-ranked Cal Poly (17-1, 7-0 Big West) at 7 p.m. The match marks the Matadors' second appearance on ESPN this season. The short homestand concludes Saturday when CSUN welcomes UC Santa Barbara (12-8, 4-4 Big West) to The Matadome, also at 7 p.m. The Matadors, who lost 3-1 at Hawai'i last Saturday, are 3-3 at home this season.Â
FOLLOW YOUR MATADORS ONLINE
All Big West Conference matches will have live stats (links available on the women's volleyball schedule page at GoMatadors.com) and all non-televised home matches this season will streamed live by the CSUNSports Network presented by Dignity Health via Big West TV.
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 CSUNAthletics 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 (17-1, 7-0 Big West) is ranked 12th in this week's AVCA Top-25 Poll. The Mustangs have won 16 straight matches including seven straight in conference play. Last week, the Mustangs picked up a home sweep over UC Santa Barbara behind 12 kills from Meredith Phillips and 10 from Torrey Van Winden. Van Winden ranks third in the Big West averaging a team-high 4.98 kills per set and leads the conference in hitting at .372.
Series: Friday's match is the 62nd all-time between the Matadors and Mustangs with Cal Poly holding a 33-28 edge in the series. The Mustangs have won the last seven matches between the two teams including a 3-0 win in San Luis Obispo on Sept. 28. CSUN's last win over Cal Poly came in a 3-0 Matador victory In The Matadome in 2014.
UC Santa Barbara (12-8, 4-4 Big West) has dropped three of its last four, the one win coming over the Matadors on Oct. 2 in Santa Barbara. The Gauchos fell in straight sets at No. 12 Cal Poly in their only match last week. Junior OH Lindsey Ruddins leads the Big West and ranks second nationally averaging 5.42 kills per set.
Series: Saturday's match is the 49th all-time between the Matadors and UCSB with the Gauchos holding a 39-9 lead in the series. UCSB has won four of the last five meetings between the two teams since the Matadors won three straight from 2014-15.Â
JOHNSON MOVES INTO BIG WEST HITTING TOP-10Â
Junior Brianna Johnson has been one of CSUN's most effective hitters over the last two weeks. Since hitting .000 on just four attacks at UC Santa Barbara on Oct. 2, Johnson has connected for 23 kills, committing just two errors on 53 swings over the Matadors' last three matches. That has moved her into the top-10 among the Big West hitting leaders at .294. In addition to hitting at a nearly .400 clip since Oct. 2, Johnson has been CSUN's best blocker over that span. The junior has a total of 15 blocks, averaging 1.25 blocks per set over the last three matches, including a career-high seven stuffs at Hawai'i on Saturday.
OWENS CAREER KILLS COUNTER
With 13 kills at Hawai'i last week, senior Aeryn Owens upped her career kills total to 1,402. Owens, who became just the third player in CSUN history with over 1,400 kills, remains in third place on the Matador career kills list but now trails Missy Clements (1991-94) and second place by just 62 kills. Laura Walter holds the CSUN record for career kills with 1,694 from 1998-2001.
Owens opened the 2018 season ranked 11th in school history and has already moved past eight players (Angela Hupp, Mahina Haina, Alexis Cormier, Cieana Stinson, Casey Hinger, Natalie Allen, Nancy Nicholls and Kathleen Dixon) on the Matador career kills list this season.
COACHES CORNER
Matador head coach Jeff Stork shares his thoughts each week on the team, this week's matches and other topics.
On the match at Hawai'i: "I thought the team got better and better as the match wore on. I think it was also one of the cleaner matches we've played this year, very low errors, so in that respect I was pleased with how the match went."
On the upcoming homestand: "I think we know these teams pretty well and I think the team knows we did not play well at Santa Barbara or at Cal Poly so I think we'll have a different mindset this week and playing at home certainly helps."
MATADOR QUICK SETS
Owens set a season-high with three aces at Hawaii, her career-high is four which she has accomplished three times in her career ... Senior Erin Indermill has yet to commit a hitting error this season. From the setter spot, Indermill now has 16 kills on 37 error-less attacks and is hitting .432 ... CSUN established a pair of team season-highs and equaled another in its four-set match Saturday at Hawaii. With 60 team digs, the Matadors bested the 51 team digs they had against Southern Illinois on Sept. 7. CSUN also had 9.0 team blocks against the Rainbow Wahine which was two blocks better than the 7.0 they posted also against Southern Illinois. With five aces, the Matadors equaled the five they served against Portland on Sept. 15 ... The loss at Hawaii was CSUN's first this season when it out-blocks an opponent, the Matadors had 9.0 team blocks to 5.0 for the Rainbow Wahine ... CSUN is now 0-5 on the season when losing set four after dropping a 25-20 decision at Hawaii.
CSUNÂ ONÂ ESPN3
The Big West Conference announced Tuesday, Sept. 11 its 2018 fall ESPN3 streaming schedule and CSUN will be featured three times, all at home. After hosting UC Davis on Oct. 5, the Matadors make their second appearance this Friday against No. 12 Cal Poly. CSUN's third and final ESPN match will be Nov. 2 when the Matadors host Hawai'i at 7 p.m.
UP NEXT
Following the two-match homestand, the Matadors head up the coast for two matches beginning Sept. 28 at No. 15 Cal Poly. CSUNalso visits UC Santa Barbara (Oct. 2) before returning home Oct. 5 to face UC Davis.
#GoMatadors
