BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – Seniors Lexi McLeod and Nicole Nevarez each had 10 kills to lead the CSUN Women's Volleyball team to its first Big West victory, a 3-0 sweep over CSU Bakersfield Friday evening at the Icardo Center.
Set scores were 25-23, 25-20, 25-19 as the Matadors improve to 2-11 overall and 1-2 in the Big West. CSUN picks up its first three-set sweep of the season while also snapping a 10-match skid. The Roadrunners drop their home opener and slip to 8-3 overall and 1-2 in conference play.
KEY STATISTICS • McLeod and Nevarez led the Matadors with 10 kills apiece with McLeod hitting a season-high .364 on 22 swings. The senior from Bakersfield also added nine digs, coming with one dig of her 11th career double-double. Nevarez also notched 10 kills (.296) to go with 11 digs for her second double-double this season and fifth of her career.
Lauryn Anderson hit .400
against CSU Bakersfield • Sophomore Lauryn Anderson continued her torrid hitting, posting eight kills on 20 error-less attacks to hit .400 while Taylor Orshoff chipped in seven kills on 15 swings to hit .333. • Setter Carisa Barron notched 20 assists and 11 digs for her second double-double while Madison Klungel had eight assists, two digs and one kill in leading the CSUN hitters to a season-best .297 (45-12-111) hitting clip. • Senior libero Makayla Bradford led CSUN with 16 digs as the Matadors posted a 54-49 edge in team digs. • CSUN limited the hosts to a .137 (35-19-117) hitting clip as Hana Makanova led the Roadrunners with 11 kills on .364 hitting.
COACH SUSIE TERRUSA SAID
"Tonight was a great team win. We hit almost .300 as a team, played great defense and served really well. I feel this match showed the potential this team has and I'm really proud of how consistent they played throughout the match. We'll enjoy this win tonight but we have a quick turnaround to prepare for a tough Cal Poly team tomorrow."
FIRST SET
The 'Runners got off to a quick start as Makanova's kill gave the hosts an early 7-4 lead. A CSUB ace extended the lead to five at 12-7 before the Matadors rallied back behind a 7-2 run to knot the score at 14-14. Still down by two at 18-16, CSUN again pulled even following an Orshoff kill and an Orshoff/Taylor Hunter block. With the score still tied at 19, McLeod connected for a kill giving the Matadors their first lead of the set. Still clinging to a one-point lead (21-20) following Orshoff's third kill of the set, CSUN pushed the lead to two when Anderson and Nieko Thomas stuffed a Roadrunner attack. Consecutive kills by CSUB knotted the score before the Matadors rallied to take three of the final four points, capped by a Nevarez kill to take the 25-23 win.
SECOND SET
The Matadors led 5-2 early on before the hosts used a 6-3 run to tie the set at 8-8. An Anderson kill then fueled a 3-0 run which opened up an 11-8 CSUN lead. Still holding a three-point edge at 17-14, a pair of CSUB miscues and another Orshoff kill gave the Matadors their largest lead at 20-14. An ensuing 4-0 run by the Roadrunners trimmed the lead to 20-18 before an Orshoff kill and a CSUB hitting error boosted the lead back to four at 22-18. The Roadrunners would pull within three at 22-19 but would get no closer as an Anderson/Nevarez block on set point propelled CSUN to the 25-20 win.
THIRD SET
The final set proved to be the tightest of the match as the two teams traded sideouts until 13-13. Another Anderson/Nevarez block and a Seyvion Waggoner kill gave CSUN a 15-13 lead and the Matadors would not trail again. Still maintaining a three-point lead (20-17), an Anderson kill matched CSUN's largest lead of the set at 21-17 before CSUB battled back to within three at 22-19. But consecutive kills from Nevarez and a match-clinching kill from Thomas ended the match 25-19.
UP NEXT
The Matadors cap a quick two-match trip to the Central Valley on Saturday, taking on Cal Poly at Mott Athletics Center at 2 p.m.
