California State University at Northridge
UC Irvine
Matadors at UC Irvine, UC Davis in Homestretch of 2018
10/23/2018 4:44:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
MATADORS THIS WEEK:
MATCH #22Â (BIG WESTÂ MATCH #10):
CSUN Matadors (6-15, 2-7 Big West) at UC Irvine Anteaters (12-8, 6-2 Big West)
Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018 - 7 p.m. PDT
Bren Events Center (5,000) - Irvine, Calif.
Live Stats
Big West TV
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNWVB
MATCH #23Â (BIG WESTÂ MATCH #11):
CSUN Matadors (6-15, 2-7 Big West) at UC Davis Aggies (12-9, 4-5 Big West)
Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018 - 7 p.m. PDT
The Pavilion (5,931) - Davis, Calif.
Live Stats
Big West TV
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNWVB
FORÂ STARTERS
The CSUN Women's Volleyball team (6-15, 2-7 Big West) begins the homestretch of the 2018 season this week, traveling to UC Irvine on Thursday and UC Davis on Saturday. The two-match road trip opens a season-concluding stretch that will see the Matadors play five of their final seven matches on the road. CSUN slipped to 3-5 on its home court after falling to No. 12 Cal Poly (3-0) and UC Santa Barbara (3-2) inside The Matadome last week. 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 CSUNSportsNetwork 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 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 OPPOSITION
UC Irvine (12-8, 6-2 Big West) has won five of its last six heading into Thursday's match. The Anteaters had their five-match win streak snapped with a 3-2 loss at UC Davis on Saturday. Redshirt sophomore Loryn Carter leads UCI averaging 2.85 kills per set while freshman Abby Marjama adds 2.51 kps. The Anteater, hitting .220 as a team, led the conference by limiting their opponents to .180 hitting.Â
Series:Â Thursday's match is the 57th all-time between the Matadors and Anteaters with the series tied at 28 wins apiece. UCI has won three straight matches over the Matadors including a 25-23, 25-16, 25-23 win on Oct. 6 in Northridge.
UC Davis (12-9, 4-5 Big West) has won three straight and four of its last six heading into a Thursday match against Long Beach State. The Aggies, who rank second in the conference in team digs, are led by senior Emily Allen who ranks fifth in the Big West averaging 3.75 kills per set.
Series:Â Saturday's match is the 32nd all-time between the Matadors and Aggies with CSUN holding an 18-13 edge in the series. CSUN came back from a two-set deficit to knock off the Aggies on Oct. 5 in Northridge. The two teams have split the season series in each of the last three seasons.Â
MATADOR SETTERS HOLDING THEIR OWNÂ
CSUN has utilized a trio of setters for much of the season in its 6-2 lineup. Junior Kamalu Makekau-Whittaker has started nine matches, redshirt freshman Hannah Merjil has started eight and senior Erin Indermill has started four times. Makekau-Whittaker leads the team with 284 (4.73 aps) followed by Merjil with 269 (4.80 aps) and Indermill with 232 (2.87 aps).
Neither of three setters rank among the top-10 in the Big West is assists but combined would rank third with 785 assists, an average of 9.69 per set. The trio is also getting it done on the defensive side of the net as Merjil ranks fourth on the squad with 109 digs followed by Indermill with 90 and Makekau-Whittaker with 84. The three have combined for nine double-doubles this season.
OWENS CAREER KILLS COUNTER
With 47 kills in two matches last week, including a season-high 28 against UC Santa Barbara, senior Aeryn Owens upped her career kills total to 1,449. 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 15 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. Â Â Â
COACHES CORNER
Matador head coach Jeff Stork shares his thoughts each week on the team, this week's matches and other topics.
On the season to date: "I think the Big West is a tough conference and this season, there's Cal Poly and a lot of other teams that are right in the middle of the pack. Unfortunately people look at our record and might try to slip us into the bottom half, which I disagree with. We're a very competitive team capable of playing high-level volleyball. We've played many competitive and close sets, including some tough five-set losses against Long Beach State and UCSB. I think this team needs to understand that we are a quality team but unfortunately our record doesn't reflect that right now."
MATADOR QUICK SETS
• Senior libero Kristey Markle recorded the 85th, 86th and 87th aces of her CSUN career last week and now ranks seventh in service aces in the Matadors' Rally Scoring era. Markle also surpassed 700 career digs last week and now has 713 digs (2.16 dps) in her CSUN career.
• With 340 kills, Aeryn Owens has accounted for nearly 35% of CSUN's 974 team kills this season with the next three hitters (Lexi McLeod, Nicole Nevarez, Morgan Salone) combining for 430.
• McLeod had six kills while hitting .364 against No. 12 Cal Poly, her best hitting clip since hitting .471 against Cal State Fullerton on Sept. 18.
• The Matadors were 4-5 after knocking off Northern Arizona in five sets on Sept. 8 but have gone 2-10 since.
• CSUN is 3-5 at The Matadome this season with home matches against Hawaii and UC Riverside remaining.
• The Matadors fell to 0-4 this season against ranked teams after falling 3-0 to No. 12 Cal Poly.
CSUNÂ ONÂ ESPN3
The Big West Conference announced Tuesday, Sept. 11 its fall ESPN3 streaming schedule and CSUN will be featured three times, all at home. After earlier matches against UC Davis and Cal Poly, the Matadors will make their third and final ESPN3 appearance of the season against Hawai'i on Oct. 19.
UP NEXT
After traveling to UC Irvine and UC Davis this week, the Matadors return to CSUN for its final two home matches against UC Riverside (Oct. 30) and Hawai'i (Nov. 2).
#GoMatadors
