California State University at Northridge
UC San Diego
Matadors Open Big West's Second Half at UC San Diego, UC Irvine
10/27/2021 1:15:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
CSUNÂ THIS WEEK:
MATCH #21Â (BIG WEST #11)
CSUN Matadors (4-16, 3-7 Big West) at UC San Diego Tritons (7-14, 4-6 Big West)
Friday, Oct. 29, 2021Â - 7:00Â p.m. PDT
RIMAC Arena - La Jolla, Calif.
ESPN+Â //Â Live Stats
MATCH #22 (BIG WESTÂ #12)
CSUN Matadors (4-16, 3-7 Big West) at UC Irvine Anteaters (13-7, 6-4 Big West)
Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021Â -Â 5:00 p.m. PDT
Bren Events Center - Irvine, Calif.
ESPN+Â //Â Live Stats
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNWVB
FORÂ STARTERS
The CSUN Women's Volleyball team (4-16, 3-7 Big West) opens up the second half of the conference season as well as a stretch that will see the Matadors play four of their next six matches on the road beginning Friday at UC San Diego (7-14, 4-6 Big West) at 7 p.m. The Matadors will also play at UC Irvine (13-7, 6-4 Big West) on Saturday at 5 p.m. Following a season-high two-match win streak (Oct. 14-16), CSUN dropped matches to the top two teams in the conference last week, falling in straight sets at UC Santa Barbara before dropping a 3-1 decision to Hawai'i at home.
FOLLOW YOUR MATADORS
Follow CSUN Matador women's volleyball online at the official home of CSUN athletics, www.GoMatadors.com. All home matches will feature live stats and will be streamed live on ESPN+. 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 OPPONENTS
UC San Diego (7-14, 4-6 Big West) has dropped five of its last six matches since winning three straight from Sept. 25-Oct. 2. Last week, the Tritons fell in five sets at Cal Poly before dropping a straight-set decision at CSU Bakersfield. Sophomore OH Ava McInnes leads UCSD averaging 2.94 kills per set which ranks ninth in the Big West.
Series: Friday's match is the 12th meeting all-time between CSUN and UC San Diego with the Matadors holding a 10-1 lead in the series. In the first Big West match between the two teams on Sept. 25, the Tritons knocked off the Matadors in four sets in Northridge for their first-ever win in the series. The Sept. 25 match also marked the first match between the two programs since the 2000 season. CSUN is 4-0 all-time against UC San Diego in La Jolla dating back to 1982. The Matadors last played a match at UCSD in 1989, a CSUN straight-set win.
UC Irvine (13-7, 6-4 Big West) split a pair of road matches last week, falling in five sets at CSU Bakersfield before sweeping Cal Poly. The Anteaters, 6-2 at home this season, are led by two-time Big West Offensive Player of the Week Joy Umeh who ranks second among Big West players in kills (3.89) and third in points (4.17). Umeh averaged 5.25 kills per set on .366 hitting in two matches last week.
Series: Saturday's match is the 61st meeting all-time between the Matadors and Anteaters with the series knotted at 30 wins apiece. UCI claimed the most recent meeting between the two teams in Northridge on Sept. 24, winning in four sets. The Matadors are 12-17 all-time in Irvine.
BIG WEST STANDINGS
The Matadors are tied for ninth in the Big West standings heading into the second half of the conference season. At 3-7, CSUN is currently tied with Long Beach State, 2.5 games ahead of 10th-place UC Riverside (1-10). Eighth-place UC Davis (4-7) is one-half game in front of the Matadors while UC San Diego (4-6) is one full game ahead of CSUN. Hawai'i (9-1) and UC Santa Barbara (9-1) continue to lead the conference with Cal Poly (7-3) currently third. UC Irvine (6-4) is fourth, followed by CSU Bakersfield and Cal State Fullerton which are both 5-5.
SENIOR SALUTE
Senior Lexi McLeod surpassed 700 digs in her Matador career last week and heads into the week with 705 career digs at CSUN. McLeod ranks second on the Matadors with 226 digs this season while the senior from Bakersfield is now averaging 2.45 digs per set in her career. With 64 career aces, McLeod is within 15 aces from entering the Matadors' rally scoring era top-10. Sydney Gedryn currently ranks 10th with 79 career aces. With 121 kills this season, McLeod has now posted double-figure kill totals in all three of her seasons at CSUN and now has 467 career kills.
With 19 kills in two matches last week, fellow senior Nicole Nevarez has upped her CSUN career kills total to 660. Nevarez, who ranks second on the Matadors with 176 kills this season, heads into the week averaging 2.36 kills over 280 career sets. Nevarez, who surpassed 2,000 career attacks last week, also passed the 400 career digs plateau three weeks ago and now has 442 career scoops while averaging 1.58 digs per set.
Senior Makayla Bradford added 28 digs in two matches last week to bump her career total to 673 digs while averaging 3.74 digs per set over 180 career sets.
BIG WEST RANKS
The Matadors remain in the top-10 in the Big West in all seven statistical categories this week. As a team, CSUN ranks as high as seventh this week in both blocking (1.95 per set) and aces (1.15 per set). The Matadors are 10th in all other categories; hitting percentage (.159), opponent hitting percentage (.234), assists per set (10.23), kills per set (11.23), digs per set (13.26).
Individually, six Matador players continue to rank in the conference's top-20 this week. Bradford is the highest-ranked CSUN player this week, ranking seventh in digs per set at 3.88. McLeod remains 15th this week in digs, averaging 3.10 per set. Redshirt freshman Taylor Hunter, who has ranked as high as fourth in blocking this season, is 12th this week averaging 0.87 blocks per set followed by sophomore Lauryn Anderson who remains 15th at 0.78 bps. Anderson also remains 15th in hitting percentage at .273 while Taylor Orshoff remains 18th in kills per set at 2.63 and Nevarez ranks 20th in aces at 0.22 per set.
TERRUSA NAMED CSUN'S INTERIM HEAD COACH
Long-time Matador assistant coach Susie Terrusa became just the seventh head coach in the program's 45-year history when she was named interim head coach on Sept. 18, 2020. She follows in the footsteps of former colleague Jeff Stork, who announced his retirement the day before. Terrusa and Stork worked side-by-side for 18 years guiding the Matadors on the volleyball court.
Terrusa, who was promoted to associate head coach in 2018, completed her 21st season as the program's top assistant coach in 2019. She was instrumental in the Matadors advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2013 while posting 24 wins, the most by a Matador team since 1996. This marks Terrusa's second stint as CSUN's interim head coach. She was also appointed to the role on Dec. 18, 2001, after the resignation of Dr. Lian Lu, and served in that capacity until March 15, 2002. As the interim head coach, she continued the Matadors' recruiting efforts and served as the scheduling coordinator. Under Stork, she has served as recruiting coordinator and has also assisted with the daily practice routine, fundraising, community outreach and game coaching.Â
LOOKING AHEAD
Following this week's road matches at UC San Diego and UC Irvine, the Matadors return home to open up another brief two-match homestand on Nov. 5 against Cal Poly. CSUN will also host CSU Bakersfield (Nov. 6) on the homestand.
#UniteTheValley
