California State University at Northridge
UC Santa Barbara
Matadors Cap 2021 Season at Home vs. UCSB, at Hawai'i
11/23/2021 10:46:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
CSUNÂ THIS WEEK:
MATCH #29Â (BIG WEST #19)
UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (19-11, 15-3Â Big West)Â at CSUN Matadors (7-21, 6-12Â Big West)
Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021Â - 7:00Â p.m. PST
The Matadome - Northridge, Calif.
ESPN+Â //Â Live Stats
MATCH #30 (BIG WESTÂ #20)
CSUN Matadors (7-21, 6-12Â Big West) at Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine (20-5, 17-1 Big West)
Friday, Nov. 26, 2021Â - 9:00 p.m. PST
Simplifi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center - Honolulu, O'ahu
Video // Live Stats
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNWVB
FORÂ STARTERS
After two wins to open a three-match homestand, the CSUN Women's Volleyball team (7-21, 6-12 Big West) caps the 2021 this week as the Matadors host UC Santa Barbara (19-11, 15-3 Big West) on Tuesday before traveling to Honolulu to take on Hawai'i (20-5, 17-1 Big West) on Friday. The Matadors improved to 3-6 on their home court after defeating both UC Riverside and UC Davis by 3-1 scores last week which gave CSUN season sweeps over both teams. Following Tuesday's match against UCSB, CSUN will honor its four seniors (Makayla Bradford, Lexi McLeod, Nicole Nevarez and Seyvion Waggoner).
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 Santa Barbara (19-11, 15-3 Big West) claimed home sweeps over UC Davis and UC Riverside last week and has now won eight of its last 10 matches. Freshman OH Michelle Ohwobete was named both Big West Offensive Player of the Week and Freshman Player of the week after posting back-to-back 16-kill matches for a 5.33 kill per set average on a combined .406 hitting clip.
Series: Tuesday's match is the 53rd meeting all-time between CSUN and UCSB with the Gauchos holding a 42-10 lead in the series. UCSB won this season's first meeting, 3-0 in Santa Barbara. CSUN is 7-16 all-time against the Gauchos in The Matadome.
Hawai'i (20-6, 17-1 Big West) extended its win-streak to a season-best nine-straight after defeating CSU Bakersfield (3-1) and sweeping Cal Poly on the road last week. The Rainbow Wahine claim at least a share of the Big West title as they are two games ahead of UC Santa Barbara with two to play in the regular season.
Series: Friday's match is the 28th meeting all-time between the Matadors and the Rainbow Wahine with Hawai'i holding a commanding 25-2 lead in the series. In the most recent meetings between the two teams, the Rainbow Wahine won in four sets in The Matadome, their 12th straight win in the series dating back to CSUN's last win in 2014. Â
SENIOR SALUTE
Tuesday's match against UC Santa Barbara not only marks the home finale for CSUN in 2021 but also marks the final Matadome appearance for seniors Makayla Bradford, Lexi McLeod, Nicole Nevarez and Seyvion Waggoner. All four Matador seniors, who will close their collegiate careers Friday at Hawai'i, continue to reach milestones as they head into the final week of their CSUN careers.
McLeod, who passed 800 career digs against UC Riverside last Friday, reached 500 career kills against CSU Bakersfield on Nov. 6 and now has 816 digs and 523 kills in 321 career sets along with 75 career aces. McLeod is now four aces away from entering the Matadors' rally scoring era top-10. With 23 digs at Cal State Fullerton on Nov. 13, Nevarez surpassed 500 career digs as a Matador.
With her fifth kill against CSU Bakersfield on Nov. 6, she passed 700 career kills and now has 761 kills and 531 digs in 313 career sets. Nevarez also has a team-leading seven double-doubles this season giving her 10 in her career, one behind McLeod's 11. Bradford, CSUN's digs leader this season, surpassed 800 career digs at Cal State Fullerton on Nov. 13.
With 433 digs this season, Bradford ranks 10th in program history for a single season and opens the week with 833 career digs, an average of 3.91 digs per set over 213 career sets. Waggoner, who has played in 166 sets in nearly two seasons after transferring from Rice University, reached 300 career kills with her second kill at Cal State Fullerton on Nov. 13 and now has 318 kills (1.92 kps) as a Matador.
BRADFORD REMAINS THIRD IN THE BIG WEST IN DIGS
With 28 digs in two matches last week, Bradford remains third in the Big West this week averaging 4.18 digs per set. Bradford, who came into last week's matches averaging 5.24 digs per set over her last seven matches, is now averaging 4.86 digs over her last nine. Bradford scooped up a season-high 30 digs at UC San Diego on Oct. 19, which matched her previous career-best she set in the Matadors' five-set win at Portland State in 2019.
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 remains as high as fifth in aces (1.23 per set) and seventh in blocking (1.86 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 continue to rank in the conference's top-20. Bradford is the highest-ranked CSUN player this week, placing third in digs per set at 4.18 and 18th in aces at 0.25 per set. McLeod is 14th this week in digs at 3.18 per set and 19th in aces at 0.24 per set. Redshirt freshman Taylor Hunter, who has ranked as high as fourth in blocking this season, is 12th this week averaging 0.84 blocks per set followed by sophomore Lauryn Anderson who is 15th at 0.78 bps. With 34 kills in two wins last week, Taylor Orshoff moved up to 15th in kills per set at 2.81 while freshman Carisa Barron remains in the top-15 this week, ranking 12th in assists at a season-high 5.45 per set.
MATADOR QUICK SETS
Taylor Orshoff has been CSUN's kills leader or tied for the team lead in 18 of 28 matches this season ... Waggoner served her first ace of the season which came at a key moment in Friday's win over UC Riverside ... CSUN hit a season-high .299 as a team against UC Davis and are now 6-2 this season when leading in attack percentage ... the Matadors have now hit .250 or better five times this season and are 5-0 in those matches ... after finishing 3-7 during the month of October, CSUN is 3-3 so far in six November matches ... Four of the Matadors' seven wins this season have come on Friday.
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
This week's matches against UC Riverside and UC Davis open a three-match homestand which caps the 2021 home schedule for the Matadors. CSUN hosts UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday (Nov. 23) in its home finale before concluding the season Nov. 26 at Hawai'i.
#UniteTheValley
