California State University at Northridge
Arizona
CSUN Opens 2018 Season with Three Matches at Hornet Invitational
8/21/2018 8:08:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
MATADORS THIS WEEK - HORNET INVITATIONAL:
MATCH #1:
CSUN Matadors (0-0) vs. Arizona Wildcats (0-0)
Friday, Aug. 24, 2018 - 10 a.m. PDT
Colberg Court at the Nest - Sacramento, Calif.
Live Stats
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNWVB
MATCH #2:
CSUN Matadors (0-0) @ Sacramento State Hornets (0-0)
Friday, Aug. 24, 2018 - 7:30 p.m. PDT
Colberg Court at the Nest - Sacramento, Calif.
Live Stats
Live Video
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNWVB
MATCH #3:
Utah State Aggies (0-0) vs. CSUN Matadors (0-0)
Saturday, Aug. 25, 2018 - 11 a.m. PDT
Colberg Court at the Nest - Sacramento, Calif.
Live Stats
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNWVB
Weekly Match Notes            Â
FORÂ STARTERS
The CSUN women's volleyball team (0-0, 0-0 Big West) opens the 2018 season this weekend, traveling to Sacramento for three matches at the Hornet Invitational. The Matadors get the weekend underway Friday morning against Arizona at 10 a.m. CSUN then takes on homestanding Sacramento State at 7:30 before concluding the Invitational Saturday against Utah State at 11 a.m.
FOLLOW YOUR MATADORS ONLINE
All three Matador matches at the Hornet Invitational will have live stats and the CSUN-Sacramento State match will be streamed live through the Big Sky Conference (links available on the women's volleyball schedule page at GoMatadors.com).
All non-televised home matches this season will streamed live by the CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health via Big West TV and 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 HORNET INVITATIONAL FIELD
Arizona returns all six starters (+libero) from last season's 11-18 squad that finished 10th in the Pac-12 at 5-15. Senior OH Kendra Dahlke led the Wildcats in 2017, averaging 3.26 kps. Dave Rubio, a 1982 CSUN grad, is in his 27th season as the head coach at Arizona and sports a 490-309 career record.
Series Record: Arizona leads the all-time series 5-2 and has won two straight in the series. The last time the two teams met was 2015 when the Wildcats defeated the Matadors 26-24, 25-14, 25-15 in Tucson.
Sacramento State welcomes back four starters from last season's squad that finished 26-10 overall and 15-1 in the Big Sky Conference. Senior OH Mikaela Nocetti averaged a team-high 3.40 kps along with 2.82 dps for the Hornets last season. Head coach Ruben Volta is in his 11th season at Sacramento State and owns a career record of 165-157.
Series Record: CSUNÂ leads the all-time series with the Hornets 28-22 and are 11-10 all-time in Sacramento. The two teams last met in 2016 with the Matadors taking a straight set decision at the UNLV Classic in Las Vegas.
Utah State finished 16-14 in 2017 and graduated its top three attackers. The Aggies return senior setter Kassidy Johnson who averaged 10.36 aps while senior MB Lauren O'Brien also returns after posting 161 kills and a team-leading 108 blocks in 2017. Head coach Grayson DuBose is entering his 12th season as Utah State's head volleyball coach.
Series Record: The Aggies hold a slim 6-5 lead in the all-time series but CSUN is 2-0 against Utah State on neutral courts. The two teams last met in 2006 when the Aggies claimed a four-set decision in The Matadome.
2018 CSUN SEASON OUTLOOK
CSUN welcomes back four starters from last season's squad that finished 13-15 overall and 7-9 in the Big West which tied for fifth. The Matadors were picked to finish seventh in the conference's preseason coaches poll but CSUN has exceeded the preseason prognostications in each of the last few seasons.
"Obviously each new season provides a new challenge," said CSUN head coach Jeff Stork. "I think the five new players we've added changed the team enough to say we're very different this year. We think there's a possibility of running two different systems, so we're excited to see how that goes in Sacramento this weekend. We like what we've seen in the gym during camp, I thought last Saturday's scrimmage was the best practice we've had so far. It's a talented team and we have high expectations heading into the weekend."Â
Senior Aeryn Owens, a two-time first team All-Big West selection, is coming off a career season that saw her rank third in the conference in kills.
"We try not to overload Aeryn with expectations but at the end of the day she's an extremely talented player," said Stork. "She'll do very well for us this season and we also have Kristey (Markle) and Erin (Indermill) who provide senior experience and leadership in the back row. Nada (Dragovic) is our final senior who also adds leadership and composure who's been in the program for four years. Â
The one position the Matadors will break in a new starter is the setter spot. With the graduation of four-year starter Lauren Conati, Stork will turn to either junior Kamalu Makekau-Whittaker or redshirt freshman Hannah Merjil to run the Matador offense.
"I think the setting position has been very competitive so far," said Stork. "Each player has pros and cons but they're both fighting hard for it."
Junior middles Melissa Eaglin and Morgan Salone combined for 325 kills last season and will be counted on for offense and more importantly a presence at the net in 2018.Â
"Morgan sacrificed a little bit last season, moving to the outside," said Stork. "Both players are strong and dominant middles, Morgan is more comfortable in the middle and has the height as a blocker and length as an attacker. Melissa is a terrific athlete, extremely quick and is an instinctual blocker. If we can stay in the systems that we're running, she can be very effective."Â
The incoming class of Lauryn Anderson, Lexi McLeod and Nicole Nevarez, along with Brianna Johnson and Caroline Page will offer Stork additional depth in 2018. Â
"Our recruiting class this season is a little stronger than we've had in the last two or three years. The talent level is strong and we expect them to be great players for us."
OWENS JOINSÂ CSUN'SÂ 1,000 KILLS CLUB
With 24 kills against UC Irvine on Oct. 27, 2017, Aeryn Owens became the 13th player in CSUN history with 1,000 career kills. Owens, who put down a career-high 488 kills last season, heads into her senior season opener against Arizona with 1,089 career kills. Last season, she moved past Nancy Ma (1,030) into 11th place on the all-time CSUN kills list and now trails 10th-place Angela Hupp by 33 kills. Owens was the Matador leader or co-leader in kills in 26 of 28 matches last season and has also reached double figures in kills 27 times in 28 matches.
| 1. | Laura Walter (1998-01) | 1,694 |
| 2. | Missy Clements (1991-94) | 1,484 |
| 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. | Aeryn Owens (2015-) | 1,089 |
| 12. | Nancy Ma (1996-98) | 1,030 |
| 13 | Ana Kristich (1991-94) | 1,004 |
MATADOR QUICK SETS
Led by junior Kristey Markle's career-high 41 aces in 2017, the Matadors finished second in the Big West in team aces with 164 in 106 sets. Although UC Irvine had a conference-leading 180 aces, CSUN and the Anteaters tied for first averaging 1.55 aces per set. The Matadors, who also ranked 22nd in the nation, erved the most aces by a CSUN team in 11 seasons, the 2006 Matadors served 182 aces. Led by Markle's 41, which is a CSUN Rally Scoring era record, five different CSUN players had at least 22 aces and six players have at least 17 aces last season.Â
UP NEXT
Following this weekend's Hornet Invitational, the Matadors return to Northridge to open the 2018 home schedule against North Texas (Aug. 31) and Idaho (Sept. 1) as part of the CSUN-Pepperdine Challenge. The Matadors complete the tournament by heading to Malibu to take on the co-host Waves on Sunday, Sept. 2.
#GoMatadors
