Wolf Pack Holds Off CSUN in Four Sets to Close Nevada Classic

RENO, Nev. - Taylor Orshoff and Nicole Nevarez combined for 25 kills but the Nevada Wolf Pack held off the CSUN Matadors 3-1 in the final match of the Nevada Classic Tournament Saturday afternoon at Virginia Street Gym.

Set scores Friday were 25-19, 25-19, 18-25, 25-23 as the Wolf Pack improve to 3-8 on the season. CSUN slips to 1-9 heading into its conference and home opener next Friday against UC Irvine.

KEY STATISTICS
• Orshoff, who earned all-tournament honors after hitting .395 in CSUN's two matches, tied for match-high honors with 13 kills, hitting .391 on 23 attacks to go with four blocks and one dig. Nevarez added 12 kills (.111), six digs and a career-high five blocks.
• Freshman Nieko Thomas and senior Lexi McLeod each chipped in eight kills with Thomas hitting .207 on a season-high 29 swings to go with a pair of blocks. McLeod, who hit .037 on 27 swings, narrowly missed her second double-double of the season after adding 11 digs along with a pair of blocks. Freshman Abigail Macias also had a season-high six kills on 14 errorless swings to hit .429.
• Setters Carisa Barron and Madison Klungel each had 18 assists while Barron added four digs and Klungel added one ace and one kill. Senior libero Makayla Bradford led all players with 20 digs for the Matadors while Layla Cederlind served a season-high two aces.
• The Matadors out-hit Nevada .197 to .173 and won the battle at the net, out-blocking the Wolf Pack 14.0 to 9.0 as Taylor Hunter led CSUN with six blocks.
• Sydney Peterson matched Orshoff with 13 kills to lead Nevada. She led all hitters in the match, hitting .571 on 21 swings in the win.

COACH SUSIE TERRUSA SAID
"Offensively sets two, three and four were good for us. Statistically, we out hit, out-blocked and out dug them, we just need to clean up the serve and pass game. Our freshman and other young players did some very good things today. The future of the program is bright."

SET 1
The Matadors held a trio of two-point leads early in the opening set. CSUN led 4-2 after a Wolf Pack hitting error and again at 8-6 following a Cederlind service ace. CSUN appeared to go up 9-6 on a Thomas kill but the call was challenged and overturned trimming the lead to 8-7. But Thomas responded with a kill on the next point giving the Matadors their final two-point lead of the set at 9-7. Nevada then scored four straight to take the lead for good at 11-9. The Wolf Pack lead swelled to as many as seven at 19-12 before a Thomas kill capped a 4-0 CSUN run that trimmed the lead to 19-16. A Nevada kill on the ensuing point pushed the lead back to four and the Matadors would get no closer in dropping the set 25-19.

SET 2
Nevada claimed the first five points of the second set before a Hunter kill ended the run. A co-block from Hunter and Orshoff kept CSUN within four at 6-2 before the hosts scored four straight to open up an eight-point cushion at 10-2. A Nevarez kill trimmed the lead to six (11-5) before three straight Nevada points pushed the lead back to nine at 14-5. Still trailing by nine at 16-7, a Nevada service error was followed by a pair of kills from Hunter and a kill from Orshoff as the Matadors clawed back to within 16-11 forcing a Wolf Pack timeout. A kill by Nevarez out of the timeout got the Matadors as close as they would get (16-12) the rest of the set as Nevada opened up a two-set lead following the 25-19 win.

SET 3
Needing a win to stay in the match, the Matadors surrendered the first four points of the set before a 5-0 CSUN run forced a Nevada timeout. A Thomas kill kept the Matadors in front (6-5) before two straight points by the Wolf Pack erased the lead. Nevada clung to an 8-7 lead when a 4-0 run by the Matadors, capped by a Nevarez solo block, put CSUN in front to stay at 11-8. A Hunter ace extended the Matador lead to as many as four (13-9) before the hosts battled back behind an 8-4 run to knot the score at 17-17. But Nevarez answered with a kill and a solo block which fueled a 4-0 CSUN run as the Matadors opened up a 21-17 lead. The Matadors would go on the win four of the final five points, highlighted by a block from Hunter and McLeod on set point to take a 25-18 decision.

SET 4
Neither team led by more than two points until a co-block from Macias and Orshoff boosted the Matador lead to 17-14. CSUN still led by three at 19-16 following a McLeod kill before Nevada chipped away at the lead. The Matadors were whistled for a blocking error cutting the lead to one at 21-20 before a Nevada service error and an Orshoff kill forced a Wolf Pack timeout at 23-20. But the Matadors would not score again as the hosts claimed the final five points to pull out the 25-23 win.

UP NEXT
The Matadors host UC Irvine in their home and conference opener next Friday (Sept. 24) at 7 p.m.

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Team Stats

Taylor Orshoff

Nicole Nevarez

Lexi McLeod

Nieko Thomas

Players Mentioned

Carisa Barron

Makayla Bradford

Layla Cederlind

Taylor Hunter

Madison Klungel

Abigail Macias

Lexi McLeod

Nicole Nevarez

Taylor Orshoff

Nieko Thomas