California State University at Northridge
Sacramento State
CSUN Travels to Nevada for Final Pre-Conference Tune-Up
9/15/2021 1:17:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
CSUNÂ THIS WEEK - NEVADA CLASSIC TOURNAMENT
MATCH #1Â (SEASON MATCH #9)
CSUN Matadors (1-7) vs. Sacramento State Hornets (4-4)
Friday, Sept. 17, 2021Â - 3:00Â p.m. PDT
Virginia Street Gym - Reno, Nev.
Live Stats
MATCH #2 (SEASON MATCH #10)
CSUN Matadors (1-7) at Nevada Wolf Pack (1-8)
Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021Â - 2:00 p.m. PDT
Virginia Street Gym - Reno, Nev.
Live Stats // Watch
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNWVB
FORÂ STARTERS
The CSUN women's volleyball team (1-7, 0-0 Big West) wraps up the pre-Big West portion of the 2021 schedule this weekend as the Matadors travel to Reno for the Nevada Classic Tournament. The two-match schedule for CSUN opens Friday with a re-match against Sacramento State (4-4) at 3 p.m. before the Matadors conclude the tournament against the host Wolf Pack (1-8) Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. CSUN looks to snap a six-match skid this weekend after dropping three matches at the Sacramento State Invitational last weekend.
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 TOURNAMENT FIELD
Sacramento State (4-4) finished 2-1 at its own Sacramento State Invitational last weekend. The Hornets swept the Matadors and defeated Pacific (3-2) before falling to Boise State in straight sets in the championship match. Junior middle Tiyanane Kamba-Griffin and junior setter McKenna Smith were both named to the all-tournament team.
Series: Friday's match is the 53rd meeting between the Matadors and Hornets with CSUN leading the all-time series 29-23. Sacramento State defeated the Matadors in straight sets last weekend at home which snapped the Matadors' three-match win streak.
Nevada (1-8) dropped all three matches at the Cal Tournament last week, falling to the host Bears (3-0), Butler (3-0) and North Dakota State (3-1). Sophomore Reka Monteleone, who led the Pack with 12 kills against NDSU, averages a team-high 2.83 kps while Sydney Petersen adds 2.40 kps. Nevada is hitting .157 as a team through nine matches.
Series: Saturday's match is the seventh meeting all-time between the Matadors and Wolf Pack with the series tied at three wins apiece. Nevada won the most recent meeting in four sets at the Les Schwab Rose City Showdown in Portland in 2019.
MCLEOD NAMED ALL-TOURNAMENT ATÂ SACRAMENTOÂ STATE
Senior Lexi McLeod represented CSUN on the Sacramento State Invitational All-Tournament team last weekend. McLeod had three solid all-around matches for the Matadors, posting double-figure dig totals in all three matches while posting her first double-double of the season (10th career) against Boise State. Against the Broncos, McLeod put down a season-high 13 kills (.259) while also recording a career-high 21 digs. The senior from Bakersfield leads the Matadors with 94 digs this season, averaging a career-best 3.36 digs per set.
ANDERSON UPS HITTING PERCENTAGE
Sophomore middle Lauryn Anderson also had a solid offensive tournament in Sacramento. Anderson, who entered the Sacramento State Invitational hitting .043 for the season, hit a robust .400 in three matches over the weekend. After previously hitting a season match-high .333 against USC on Aug. 28, Anderson hit better than .400 in two of CSUN's three matches. She hit a career-high .600 with six kills on nine error-less swings against Sac State before connecting at a .400 clip with six kills on 15 error-less attacks against Pacific. Anderson now leads CSUN in hitting this season at .195 with 27 kills and 11 errors on 82 attacks.
BIG WEST RANKS
After three weeks of play, the Matadors continue to rank in the top-10 in the Big West in several statistical categories. As a team, CSUN has moved up to as high as fifth in the conference in blocks (2.11). The Matadors also rank eighth in opponent hitting percentage (.226) and are ninth in digs (12.71) and 10th in service aces (1.14). The Matadors rank 11th this week in hitting (.097), kills (9.57) and assists (8.93). Individually, redshirt freshman Taylor Hunter is the only Matador player to appear in the top-10. After posting 13 blocks in Sacramento, Hunter has moved up to fourth in blocks, averaging 1.15 blocks per set.
MATADOR QUICK SETS
With seven aces this season, McLeod is inching closer to the CSUN rally scoring top-10 in career aces. McLeod, who had 23 aces as a freshman in 2018 and a team-high 27 aces as a sophomore in 2019, has 57 career aces heading into this week's matches. Sydney Gedryn currently ranks 10th in the Matadors' rally scoring era with 79 career aces. Senior Nicole Nevarez had a career-high five aces against Boise State and has taken over as the team aces leader with eight. Freshman Madison Klungel also has seven aces over her first eight collegiate matches ... After serving her first collegiate ace against Loyola Marymount on Sept. 4, sophomore Taylor Orshoff posted a career-high 5.0 blocks against Boise State ... Freshman Abigail Macias notched her first collegiate kill against Pacific ... With 93 digs this season, libero Makayla Bradford is quickly closing in on 500 digs in her CSUN career. The senior from Gardena now has 483 digs in one-plus seasons and has reached double figures in digs in five of the Matadors' first eight matches this season.
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 a pair of matches in Reno this weekend, the Matadors will open the home schedule as well as the Big West season with a two-match homestand, Sept. 24-35 as CSUN hosts UC Irvine and UC San Diego in The Matadome at 7 p.m.Â
#UniteTheValley
