Matadors Fall to No. 11 Hawai'i 3-1 in Home Opener

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - The CSUN Women's Volleyball battled No. 11 Hawai'i in the Matadors' 2019 home opener before falling 3-1 Saturday night in a Big West Conference match at The Matadome.

The 25-17, 23-25, 25-23, 26-24 win for the Rainbow Wahine is their 12th in 13 tries to open the season as they improve to 12-1 overall and 2-0 in the Big West. The loss drops the Matadors to 5-9 overall and 0-2 in conference play.

KEY STATISTICS
• Sophomore Nicole Nevarez led CSUN with 13 kills but hit just .069 on 58 attacks. Nevarez also added seven digs and three blocks.
• Fellow sophomore Lexi McLeod added 10 kills, hitting a season-high .350 on 20 swings. McLeod chipped in eight digs and had one of the Matadors' two aces. Freshman Taylor Orshoff also posted double figures in points after knocking down eight digs (.172) and four blocks.
• Senior setter Kamalu Makekau-Whittaker notched her team-leading fourth double-double of the season with 40 assists while matching her season-high with 14 digs. Makayla Bradford and Caroline Page each had 11 digs for CSUN while senior Morgan Salone chipped in six kills and six blocks.
• Neither team hit at a high percentage as Hawai'i hit .162 as a team with 59 kills and 32 errors on 167 attacks while the Matadors hit .154 with 47 kills and 22 errors on 162 swings.
• Hanna Helvig and Mckenna Ross each had a match-high 14 kills to pace the Rainbow Wahine.

COACH JEFF STORK SAID
"That was a great match for CSUN in a great atmosphere. Obviously, we're not on the right side of the winning and losing right now but I really like the way the team is playing. We did a great job tonight with our blocking and digging, we just need to turn some of those opportunities into a few more points."

SET 1
After CSUN took an early 5-2 lead, the visitors rallied behind an 8-2 run to open up a 10-7 cushion. Hawai'i, which hit .265 to CSUN's .079, eventually boosted the lead to seven at 20-13 before the final margin was eight at 25-17.

SET 2
The Matadors pulled even in the match after pulling out a 25-23 win. CSUN, which out-hit Hawai'i .184 to .109 in the frame, led 12-11 following a Hayden Warnock kill. Neither team gained much separation until a stuff by Nevarez opened up a 20-17 Matador lead. After the Rainbow Wahine put together a 6-3 run to knot the score at 23-23, an Orshoff kill and a Rainbow Wahine hitting error gave CSUN the two-point win.

SET 3
After Hawai'i opened up a five-point lead at 19-14, the Matadors rallied behind kills from McLeod and Nevarez to trim the lead to 19-17. CSUN continued to cut into the Rainbow Wahine lead as a 5-3 forced a Hawai'i timeout at 22-22. But the Rainbow Wahine would claim three of the final four points of the set to take a two sets to one lead following the 25-23 win.

SET 4
Another deuce set following in the fourth frame as three straight Hawai'i hitting errors gave the Matadors a 23-22 lead late in the set. Two straight points by the visitors gave the Rainbow Wahine match point at 24-23 when an Orshoff kill saved one match point. But a kill by Skyler Williams followed by a Hawai'i block on Nevarez's final attack sent the Rainbow Wahine to the 26-24 win.

UP NEXT
The Matadors continue their brief two-match homestand next Saturday, Oct. 5 as CSUN hosts Long Beach State at 7 p.m.

#UniteTheValley

Players Mentioned

Makayla Bradford

Kamalu Makekau-Whittaker

Lexi McLeod

Nicole Nevarez

Taylor Orshoff

Caroline Page

Morgan Salone

Hayden Warnock