California State University at Northridge
Long Beach State
Matadors Face Road Tests at Long Beach, Cal State Fullerton
11/10/2021 11:47:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
CSUNÂ THIS WEEK:
MATCH #25Â (BIG WEST #15)
CSUN Matadors (5-19, 4-10Â Big West) at Long Beach State (10-15, 4-10 Big West)
Friday, Nov. 12, 2021Â - 7:00Â p.m. PDT
Walter Pyramid - Long Beach, Calif.
ESPN+Â //Â Live Stats
MATCH #26Â (BIG WESTÂ #16)
CSUN Matadors (5-19, 4-10 Big West) at Cal State Fullerton (9-12, 6-8 Big West)
Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021Â -Â 5:00 p.m. PDT
Titan Gym - Fullerton, Calif.
ESPN+Â //Â Live Stats (XML)
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNWVB
FORÂ STARTERS
After splitting a two-match homestand, the CSUN Women's Volleyball team (5-19, 4-10 Big West) returns to road this week for matches at Long Beach State (10-15, 4-10 Big West) and Cal State Fullerton (9-12, 6-8 Big West). The Matadors, 3-4 in conference road matches this season, knocked off third-place Cal Poly (3-1) on Friday for their first home win of the season. CSUN wound up splitting the homestand after CSU Bakersfield defeated the Matadors 3-1 on Saturday.
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
Long Beach State (10-15, 4-10 Big West) split a pair of matches last week, sweeping Cal State Fullerton on the road before falling in four sets to Hawai'i. The Beach, 5-7 at home this season, are led by junior Kashauna Williams who continues to lead the Big West in kills, averaging 4.14 per set while ranking second in points at 4.51 per set. The Beach rank sixth in the Big West in hitting at .221.
Series: Friday's match is the 47th meeting all-time between CSUN and Long Beach State with the Beach holding a 34-12 edge in the series. In the first match between the two teams on Oct. 9, Long Beach defeated the Matadors (25-11, 25-20, 20-25, 25-20) in The Matadome. CSUN is 4-19 all-time against the Beach in the Walter Pyramid.
Cal State Fullerton (9-12, 6-8 Big West) has lost three straight following a season-high three-match win streak. Last week, the Titans were swept at home by both Long Beach State and Hawaii. Fullerton concludes a four-game homestand this week against UC Santa Barbara and CSUN. Sophomore Julia Crawford ranks third in the Big West in digs (4.21 dps) and sixth in kills (3.31 kps).
Series: Saturday's match is the 53rd meeting all-time between the Matadors and Titans with CSUN holding a 40-12 lead in the series. The Matadors fell in four sets to Fullerton on Oct. 8 in Northridge to snap an 18-match winning streak for CSUN dating back to the 2010 season. The Matadors are 17-8 all-time against the Titans in Fullerton.Â
BRADFORD MOVES UP TO 4TH IN DIGS
With 106 digs over CSUN's last five matches, senior Makayla Bradford has moved up to fourth in the Big West, averaging 4.10 digs per set. Bradford has averaged 5.05 digs per set over her last five matches which included a season-high 30 digs at UC San Diego on Oct. 19. That total matched her career-best 30 digs she set in the Matadors' five-set win at Portland State in 2019. For the season, Makayla Bradford leads CSUN with 369 digs which has bumped her career total to 759 digs, an average of 3.85 digs per set over 197 career sets.
SENIOR MILESTONES
A host of Matador seniors continue to reach milestones during the 2021 season. In addition to Bradford, Lexi McLeod, Nicole Nevarez and Seyvion Waggoner head into the homestretch of their CSUN careers this week. McLeod, who passed 700 career digs against Hawai'i on Oct. 23, reached 500 career kills against CSU Bakersfield on Saturday. The senior from Bakersfield now has 757 digs and 503 kills in 305 career sets along with 70 career aces which is now within nine aces from entering the Matadors' rally scoring era top-10. With her fifth kill against CSUB, Nevarez passed 700 career kills as a Matador. The senior from Rancho Cucamonga now has 706 kills and 477 digs in 297 career sets. Waggoner, who has played in 151 sets in nearly two seasons, is closing in on 300 career kills as she has 291 heading into this week's matches.
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 fifth in aces (1.23 per set) and seventh in blocking (1.96 per set). The Matadors are 10th in the remaining five categories; hitting percentage (.164), opponent hitting percentage (.233), assists per set (10.44), kills per set (11.42) and digs per set (13.61).
Individually, six Matador players rank in the conference's top-20 this week. Bradford is the highest-ranked CSUN player this week, placing fourth in digs per set at 4.10 and 14th in aces at 0.26 per set. McLeod is 15th this week in digs (3.09 per set) and is 20th in aces (0.22 per set). Redshirt freshman Taylor Hunter, who has ranked as high as fourth in blocking this season, remains 12th this week averaging 0.85 blocks per set followed by sophomore Lauryn Anderson who is 14th at 0.82 bps. Anderson is also 19th in hitting percentage at .252 while Taylor Orshoff is 19th in kills per set at 2.62. Freshman Carisa Barron remains in the top-15 this week, ranking 13th in assists at 5.13 per set.
MATADOR QUICK SETS
After dropping 10 consecutive matches decided in four sets, CSUN picked up its first 3-1 win of the season over Cal Poly ... despite the win over Cal Poly, the Matadors remain tied with Long Beach State for ninth in the conference standings at 4-10. CSUN remains two games ahead of 10th-place UC Riverside (2-12). Eighth-place UC San Diego (6-9) is 1.5 games in front of the Matadors while UC Davis (6-8) is two games ahead of CSUN. Hawai'i (13-1) has a one-game lead over UC Santa Barbara (12-2) in leading the Big West.
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 Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton, the Matadors will play three of their final four matches of the season at home beginning next Friday (Nov. 19) against UC Riverside. CSUN will also host UC Davis (Nov. 20) and UC Santa Barbara (Nov. 23) before concluding the season Nov. 26 at Hawai'i.
#UniteTheValley
