California State University at Northridge
Cal Poly
Matadors Open Road Trip Friday at No. 15 Cal Poly
9/26/2018 12:08:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
MATADORS THIS WEEK:
MATCH #15Â (BIG WESTÂ MATCH #3):
CSUNÂ Matadors (5-9, 1-1 Big West) at No. 15 Cal Poly Mustangs (13-1, 3-0 Big West)
Friday, Sept. 28, 2018 - 7 p.m. PDT
Mott Athletics Center (3,032) - San Luis Obispo, Calif.
Live Stats
Big West TV
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNWVB
FORÂ STARTERS
The CSUN Women's Volleyball team (5-9, 1-1 Big West), which split its conference-opening homestand last week, opens up a two-match road trip this week with a single match at 15th-ranked Cal Poly (13-1, 3-0 Big West). First serve at Mott Athletics Center is scheduled for 7 p.m.
The Matadors then complete the road swing next week at UC Santa Barbara (Oct. 2) before returning home to host UC Davis (Oct. 5) and UC Irvine (Oct. 6).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 CSUN Sports 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 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
Cal Poly (13-1, 3-0 Big West) is ranked 15th in this week's AVCA Top-25 Poll. The Mustangs have won 12 straight matches including opening the conference season with a home sweep over UC Davis followed by road wins at Cal State Fullerton (3-0) and UC Riverside (3-0) last week. Junior OH Torrey Van Winden is averaging a team-high 4.88 kills per set which ranks third in Big West. Senior OH Adlee Van Winden adds 2.98 kps for the Mustangs who lead the Big West in hitting at .284.
Series: Friday's match is the 61st all-time between the Matadors and Mustangs with Cal Poly holding a slim 32-28 edge in the series. The Mustangs have won the last six matches between the two teams including a pair of 3-0 wins in 2017.Â
CSUN IMPROVES TO 11-7 IN BIG WEST OPENERS
With their 3-0 conference-opening win over Cal State Fullerton, the Matadors improved to 11-7 (.611) in 18 Big West openers since joining the conference in 2001. CSUN improved its overall record in conference openers to 24-10 (.706) dating back to 1984. The Matadors have now won their last six Big West openers dating back to a five-set win over UC Davis in 2013.
OWENS CAREER KILLS COUNTERÂ
With 37 kills in two matches last week, senior Aeryn Owens moved into third place on the CSUN career kills list with 1,340. 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. Owens now trails Missy Clements (1991-94) and second place by 124 kills. Laura Walter holds the CSUN record for kills with 1,694 from 1998-2001.Â
MATADORS VS. RANKED TEAMS
Friday's match at No. 15 Cal Poly is CSUN's third test against a ranked team in 2018. The Matadors fell in straight sets earlier this season to both No. 8 Florida and No. 13 Washington. Portland, which topped CSUN at the Boise State Classic, was receiving votes in the Sept. 10 AVCA Top-25 poll. CSUN's last win over a team ranked in the AVCA Top-25 came in 2014 when the Matadors upset No. 21 Hawai'i in The Matadome 25-17, 25-20, 25-21.
COACHES CORNER
Matador head coach Jeff Stork shares his thoughts each week on the team, this week's matches and other topics.
On splitting the first week of Big West play: "When I look at our team my biggest focus is how well we prepare and how well we train. Even though we won, I was a little frustrated with how we played against Cal State Fullerton. I liked the grit we played with against Long Beach although I didn't like the outcome."
On Friday's match at No. 15 Cal Poly:Â "We still have some things we need to work on as a volleyball team and Cal Poly is a big challenge for us. The beautiful thing about volleyball is the other team can't physically affect you. It's a rebound sport so we have to control the ball on our side and manipulate it the way we want it to go."
MATADOR QUICK SETS
• Senior libero Kristey Markle had 33 digs in CSUN's two matches last week, moving her past 600 digs in her Matador career. Markle heads into this week's action with a team-high 192 digs this season and 603 digs in her CSUN career to go with 81 career aces.
• Sophomore Daniella Molinari served the first two aces of her career while senior Nada Dragovic posted a season-high 10 kills against Long Beach State.
• Freshman Lexi McLeod posted her fourth double-double of the season against the 49ers with a season-high 16 kills along with 10 digs. McLeod is averaging 3.12 kills per set in two conference matches and 2.63 kps overall in 14 matches
• In addition to leading the Matadors in kills, kills per set and points, Owens took over the team lead in aces with 12.
• Collectively, CSUN's three setters (Erin Indermill, Kamalu Makekau-Whittaker, Hannah Merjil) have 541 assists which averages out to 9.84 assists per set. Merjil leads the squad with 265 assists, followed by Makekau-Whittaker with 156 and Indermill with 120.
• CSUN was the Big West's top service aces team and ranked 22nd nationally last season at 1.58 per set but ranks eighth in the conference this season at 1.18.
• Saturday's loss to Long Beach State dropped CSUN to 2-3 this season in five-set matches.
CSUNÂ ON ESPN3
The Big West Conference announced Tuesday, Sept. 11 its ESPN3 streaming schedule for the fall and CSUN will be featured three times, all at home. The Matadors will host UC Davis on Oct. 5 at 7 p.m., nationally-ranked Cal Poly on Oct. 19 and Hawai'i on Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. All three matches can be seen live on ESPN3 and the Watch ESPN app.
CALLING ALL MATADORÂ FANS!
Upcoming home matches in The Matadome feature several community events and fan giveaways:
Oct. 5 (Fri., 7 p.m.) • vs. UC Davis
Faculty/Staff Series //Â Breast Cancer Awareness Night // Pink Neon T-shirts
Oct. 19 (Fri., 7 p.m.) • vs. Cal Poly
First Responders Night
Oct. 20 (Sat., 7 p.m.) • vs. UC Santa Barbara
CSUN Athletics shirts to the first 100 fans
Oct. 30 (Tue., 7 p.m.) • vs. UC Riverside
Taco Tuesday // CSUN Athletics Reusable Bag to first 100 fans
// First 100 fans that come in costume receive FREE admission
Nov. 2 (Fri., 7 p.m.) • vs. Hawai'i
Senior Night
UP NEXT
After playing just the single match at Cal Poly this week, CSUN will have a rare three-match slate next week, traveling to UC Santa Barbara before UC Davis and UC Irvine venture to The Matadome. The UC Davis match is CSUN's first of three ESPN3 appearances this season.
#GoMatadors
