CSUN Battles Back Before Falling in Five Sets to Omaha

PHOENIX, Ariz. - After dropping the first two sets, the CSUN Women's Volleyball team battled to force a fifth set but ultimately fell to Omaha, 3-2 Saturday in match two of the Grand Canyon Classic at Antelope Gymnasium.

With the 25-20, 25-14, 20-25, 25-27, 15-10 win, the Mavericks improve to 7-6 on the season while the Matadors have their season-best, three-match winning streak snapped in dropping to 4-7

KEY STATISTICS
• Sophomore Seyvion Waggoner led CSUN with a match-high 19 kills, hitting .261 on 46 attacks. Freshman Taylor Orshoff also reached double figures with 11 kills, hitting .308 on 26 swings,
• Sophomore Nicole Nevarez chipped in nine kills, a career-high three aces and a match-high 18 digs while libero Makayla Bradford posted 13 digs.
• Senior setter Kamalu Makekau-Whittaker posted 39 assists, four digs and three kills.
• The Matadors hit a match-high .324 in set three but were limited to a .208 (54-23-149) team hitting clip for the match. Omaha hit .591 in set two and .321 (71-21-156) for the match in the win.
• Sadie Limback led three Maverick hitters in double figures with 18 kills on .517 hitting.

SET 1
Omaha jumped out to a 5-2 lead and never trailed in the set. Leading by as many as three points for a good portion of the set, the Mavericks teamed up to stuff a Nevarez attack to force a CSUN timeout at 19-15. The Matadors could only draw within four points the remainder of the set and after a Waggoner kill saved one set point but the Mavericks get a kill on their next swing and claimed the opening set 25-20.

SET 2
After the Matadors led 3-1 early on, Omaha snapped a 7-7 tie with a 5-0 run and would not trail again. The Mavericks extended the lead to 18-11, forcing a Matador timeout. CSUN would have trouble getting its offense on track, hitting -.043 in the set, as Omaha pulled away to win by 11 at 25-14.

SET 3
Needing a win to stay in the match, the Matadors bolted out to an 8-3 lead. After Omaha answered with a 7-2 run to knot the score at 10-10, CSUN built its lead back to 13-10 following the second of two Nevarez aces. Orshoff then capped a 3-0 CSUN run with a kill putting the Matadors up 18-14. A Maverick hitting error gave CSUN its largest lead of the set at 22-16 before a late 3-0 Omaha run trimmed the lead to 22-19. Undeterred, the Matadors claimed three of the final four points following a CSUN timeout, the last two coming on Waggoner kills.

SET 4
Neither team led by more than two points until a Maverick hitting error gave CSUN a 22-19 lead. Another Waggoner kill boosted the lead to 23-19 before Omaha scored three straight to force a Matador timeout. Clinging to a 23-22 lead, CSUN got a kill from Waggoner to earn set point at 24-23 but the next Matador swing was out to knot the score at 24-24. After a Hayden Warnock kill gave CSUN a 25-24 lead, the Mavericks saved another set point before the Matadors took advantage of an Omaha service error and a Warnock ace to seal the set 27-25.

SET 5
The two teams traded the lead before playing to an 8-8 tie. A Maverick kill and a CSUN setting error forced a Matador timeout with Omaha leading 10-8. The Mavericks extended the run to 4-0 top open up their largest lead of the set at 12-8. Following a Matador timeout, Waggoner put down her 19th kill of the match which was followed by an Omaha hitting error as CSUN closed to within 12-10. But the Matadors would get no closer as a Maverick kill and a pair of aces gave Omaha the 15-10 win.

UP NEXT
The Matadors conclude the Grand Canyon Classic later this afternoon against Idaho at 4 p.m.

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Team Stats

Seyvion Waggoner

Taylor Orshoff

Nicole Nevarez

Morgan Salone

Players Mentioned

Makayla Bradford

Kamalu Makekau-Whittaker

Nicole Nevarez

Taylor Orshoff

Seyvion Waggoner

Hayden Warnock