California State University at Northridge
Cal State Fullerton
Matadors Host Titans, Beach in Big West Homestand
10/7/2021 11:45:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
CSUNÂ THIS WEEK:
MATCH #15Â (BIG WEST #5)
Cal State Fullerton Titans (4-7, 1-3 Big West) at CSUN Matadors (2-12, 1-3 Big West)
Friday, Oct. 8, 2021Â - 7:00Â p.m. PDT
The Matadome - Northridge, Calif.
ESPN+Â //Â Live Stats
MATCH #16 (BIG WESTÂ #6)
Long Beach State (7-8, 1-3Â Big West) at CSUN Matadors (2-12, 1-3Â Big West)
Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021Â - 7:00 p.m. PDT
The Matadome - Northridge, Calif.
ESPN+Â //Â Live Stats
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNWVB
FORÂ STARTERS
After picking up its first conference victory of the season last week, the CSUN Women's Volleyball team (2-11, 1-3 Big West) returns to The Matadome Friday to open a two-match homestand against Cal State Fullerton (4-7, 1-3 Big West) at 7 p.m. The Matadors also welcome Long Beach State (7-8, 1-3 Big West) to Northridge on Saturday to wrap up the homestand, also at 7 p.m. CSUN is coming off a two-match road trip that saw the Matadors win in straight sets at CSU Bakersfield (Oct. 1) before falling 3-0 at Cal Poly (Oct. 2).
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+ with Ghizal Hasan handling the play-by-play. Darren Preston will handle the internet radio call for all home matches. 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.Â
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
Cal State Fullerton (4-7, 1-3 Big West) has dropped three straight after opening conference play with a 3-1 win over CSU Bakersfield on Sept. 24. Since then, the Titans have fallen at home to Cal Poly (3-2) and on the road at Long Beach State (3-0) and Hawai'i (3-2). Fullerton is 1-5 on the road this season, it's lone win coming over Southeastern Louisiana on Sept. 3. Sophomore OH Julie Crawford leads the Titans averaging 3.62 kills and 4.33 digs per set. She ranks in the top-three in the Big West in both statistical categories. As a team, the Titans rank ninth in the Big West, hitting .148 as a team.
Series: Friday's match is the 52nd meeting all-time between CSUN and Cal State Fullerton with the Matadors holding a commanding 40-11 lead in the series. The Matadors have won 18 straight in the series, including 3-0 and 3-1 wins in 2019. The Matadors are 22-3 all-time against the Titans in Northridge.
Long Beach State (7-8, 1-3 Big West) picked up its first conference win at home over Cal State Fullerton (Sept. 28) before falling in straight sets at Hawai'i last week. The Beach, 0-3 in road matches, is 5-5 over their last 10 matches. Junior OH Kashauna Williams leads Long Beach as well as the Big West in kills at 4.59 per set. The three-time Big West Player of the Week has taken 600 of the Beach's 1,916 swings this season.. Long Beach is hitting .222 as a team which ranks fourth in the conference.
Series: Saturday's match is the 46th meeting all-time between the Matadors and the Beach with Long Beach State holding a 33-12 edge in the series. The Beach have won five straight over the Matadors, including a marathon five-set win in the last meeting.
BARRON, NEVAREZ DOUBLE UP
The Matadors nearly matched their season total in double-doubles in one match last week. With both Carisa Barron and Nicole Nevarez posting double-doubles against CSU Bakersfield, CSUN upped its season total to five. Nevarez now shares the team lead with a pair of double-doubles on the season after posting 10 kills and 11 digs against the Roadrunners. Nevarez, who has five career double-doubles, now has double-doubles in two of her last three matches after posting 12 kills and 16 digs against UC San Diego on Sept. 25. Barron also posted her second double-double of the season at CSUB with 20 assists and 11 digs, which was her first since recording 17 assists and 10 digs in CSUN's 3-2 win over Campbell on Aug. 27. Lexi McLeod has CSUN's other double-double this season when she posted 13 kills and 21 digs against Boise State on Sept. 10.
SENIOR MILESTONES
Seniors McLeod and Nevarez have reached or are closing on significant career milestones as each plays her final season. McLeod has surpassed 600 digs in her Matador career as she heads into the week with 626. With 147 digs this season, the senior from Bakersfield is now averaging 2.36 digs per set in her career. With 59 career aces, McLeod is now within 20 aces from entering the Matadors' rally scoring era top-10. Sydney Gedryn currently ranks 10th with 79 career aces. With 79 kills this season, McLeod boosting her career kills total to 425. Nevarez, who ranks second on the Matadors with 115 kills this season, is within one kill of 600 in her CSUN career. With 19 digs last week, Nevarez passed the 400 career digs milestone and heads into this week with 402 in her Matador career.
BIG WEST RANKS
After six weeks of the 2021 season, the Matadors continue to rank in the top-10 in the Big West in four statistical categories. As a team, CSUN ranks as high as sixth this week in team blocking at 2.11 per set. The Matadors are eighth this week in aces per set (1.12) and are 10th in both opponent hitting percentage (.224) and digs per set (13.28 dps). The Matadors are 11th this week in hitting (.141), kills per set (10.80) and assists per set (9.80). Individually, redshirt freshman Taylor Hunter and senior Makayla Bradford are the two Matador players to appear in the top-10. After ranking as high as fourth in blocking, Hunter is seventh this week averaging 1.00 blocks per set. Bradford remained in the top-10 in digs for the third straight week as the senior ranks ninth averaging 3.72 digs per set.
MATADOR QUICK SETS
CSUN picked up its first 3-0 sweep of the season at CSU Bakersfield on Friday. The win featured the Matadors' season-high for a three-set match in five statistical categories. Not only did CSUN hit a season-high .297 against the Roadrunners, they also put down 45 kills and had 36 assists in addition to 54 digs and 8.0 blocks, all season-highs for a three-set match.
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
After hosting Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State this week, the Matadors open a three-match road swing next Thursday (Oct. 14) at UC Davis. CSUN will also visit UC Riverside (Oct. 16) and UC Santa Barbara (Oct. 19) on the road trip.
#UniteTheValley
