Matadors Win Five-Set Thriller at UC Irvine

IRVINE, Calif. - Seyvion Waggoner had a team-high 14 kills while the CSUN Women's Volleyball team had 10 aces and 14 blocks in defeating UC Irvine in a Big West Conference match Saturday night at the Bren Events Center.

With the 19-25, 25-18, 21-25, 25-20, 15-8 win, the Matadors earn their season-best fourth straight win improving to 12-13 overall and 7-6 in the Big West. The loss drops the Titans to 11-11 overall and 3-8 in conference play.

KEY STATISTICS
• Waggoner hit .364 on 33 swings to go with three blocks to lead the Matadors while Hayden Warnock and Lexi McLeod each added eight kills. Warnock hit .500 on 16 errorless attacks while matching McLeod with two aces.
• Senior Morgan Salone posted seven kills (.353) and a match-high seven blocks while junior Miranda Poole came off the bench to add six kills on nine errorless swings to hit a team-high .667.
• Libero Makayla Bradford had a team-high three aces as six different Matadors registered at least one ace.
• CSUN hit .223 (50-171-48) as a team compared to .232 for the host Anteaters but the Matadors out-blocked UCI (14.0-4.0) and out-aced the 'Eaters (10-4).
• Abby Marjama led all hitters in the match with 16 kills, she was one of five UCI hitters in double figures,

ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH SUSIE TERRUSA SAID
"We started slowly in set one but I was really happy again with how the team responded. We knew this was going to be a battle tonight and the players stepped up to the challenge. We had another outstanding blocking night and we served very well. It was a great team win."

SET 1
UCI started with an ace fromKelly Negron and a block by Onye Ofoegbu and Cassie Stewart followed by a Matador attack error and kills by Stewart and Marjama to jump out to a 5-0 lead. CSUN would score the next three, but the Anteaters would answer with three of their own, 8-3. Consecutive kills by Stewart, Loryn Carter and Marjama plus a block by Cater and Makayla Wolfe extended the lead to 13-6. Another 4-0 spurt by UCI moved the gap to 22-13. UCI would win the set on a kill by Wolfe, 25-19

SET 2
With the score tied at 11-11, CSUN would use a 4-1 run to take a 15-12 lead. UCI would get no closer than two the rest of the way as CSUN would win 25-18. After hitting .000 in the first set, the Matador posted a .400 (15-3-30) mark in the second

SET 3
CSUN jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead. Down 6-3, UCI had kills by Carter and Wolfe and two Matador errors to take the lead at 7-6. A CSUN kill and two UCI attack errors would flip the script and take a lead only to watch UCI regain control with three straight 10-9. The teams would trade points until three Ofoegbu kills, two put down on overpasses from tough Marjama serves helped the Anteaters to a 17-13 advantage. A play which featured great digs by Erin Alonso and Bailey Darnel was finished by Wolfe in the middle, 21-18. CSUN would close within 22-20, but the Anteaters would out-score the Matadors 3-1 to end the set, 25-21

SET 4
Six straight Matador points, five on UCI errors moved CSUN out to a 12-9 lead. The Anteaters never recovered and CSUN won 25-20 to force a fifth set

SET 5
CSUN started with an early 3-1 lead and extended the margin to 7-2 on a Bradford ace. A Sierra Davis ace got the Anteaters to 8-5 before the Matadors peeled off the next three, 11-5. CSUN completed the victory with a kill, 15-8

UP NEXT
The Matadors return to The Matadome for their final homestand next week as CSUN hosts Cal Poly (Nov. 15) and UC Santa Barbara (Nov. 16)

#UniteTheValley

Players Mentioned

Makayla Bradford

Lexi McLeod

Miranda Poole

Morgan Salone

Seyvion Waggoner

Hayden Warnock