California State University at Northridge
UC Davis
CSUN Opens Three-Match Homestand Friday Against UC Davis
10/13/2022 5:31:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
CSUNÂ THIS WEEK:
MATCH #19Â (BIG WEST MATCH #7)
UC Davis (8-8, 3-3 Big West) @ CSUN Matadors (6-12, 1-5 Big West)
Friday, Oct. 14, 2022Â - 7:00 p.m. PDT
Premier America Credit Union Arena - Northridge, Calif.
Live Stats // ESPN+
MATCH #20Â (BIG WEST MATCH #8)
UC Riverside (3-12, 1-5 Big West) @Â CSUN Matadors (6-12, 1-5 Big West)
Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022Â - 5:00Â p.m. PDT
Premier America Credit Union Arena - Northridge, Calif.
Live Stats // ESPN+
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNWVB
FORÂ STARTERS
The CSUN women's volleyball team returns to Premier America Credit Union Arena this week to open a season-long three-match homestand Friday against UC Davis. The Matadors and Aggies meet at 7 p.m. before CSUN hosts UC Riverside Saturday at 5 p.m. CSUN wraps up the homestand next Tuesday against UC Santa Barbara at 7 p.m.
The Matadors, 1-1 at home this season, are coming off a pair of tough five-set road losses at Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State.
FOLLOW YOUR MATADORS
Follow CSUN Matador women's volleyball online at the official home of CSUN athletics, www.GoMatadors.com. All home matches will be streamed live on ESPN+ (Darren Preston PBP) and feature live stats at GoMatadors.com.
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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 OPPOSITION
UC Davis (8-8, 3-3 Big West) is halfway through a four-match road trip that so far has produced consecutive losses. The Aggies opened the trip with a 3-0 loss at CSU Bakersfield before falling to Cal Poly, 3-0 in San Luis Obispo on Saturday. Redshirt junior Demari Webb leads the Aggies, averaging 2.38 kps followed by Josephine Ough who averages 2.35 kps.
Series: Friday's match is the 37th meeting all-time between CSUN and UC Davis with the Matadors holding a 21-15 edge in the series. The Matadors claimed both meetings last season and have now won three straight over the Aggies who are coached by former CSUN men's assistant coach Dan Conners. The Matadors are 9-7 all-time against UCD in Northridge.
UC Riverside (3-12, 1-5 Big West) has dropped three straight since defeating UC San Diego in five sets on Sept. 29. Last week, the Highlanders fell in straight sets on the road at Cal Poly and CSU Bakersfield. The Highlanders, 0-7 on the road this season, are led by Isabella Scarlett who is averaging a team-high 2.51 kills per set on .276 hitting.
Series: Saturday's match is the 83rd meeting all-time between CSUN and UC Riverside with the Matadors holding a commanding 61-21 lead in the series. CSUN, 31-4 all-time against UCR in Northridge, has won the last four meetings between the two teams, sweeping three of the last four.Â
NEVAREZ ON THE CSUN CAREER CHARTS
Nicole Nevarez, in her fourth season at CSUN, continues to close in on several career milestones in 2022. With a team-high 207 kills this season, Nevarez is now 32 kills away from becoming the 14th player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills. She heads into the week having appeared in 102 matches and 383 career sets while posting 968 career kills on 2,905 career attempts to go with 721 career digs, 178 career blocks and 67 career aces. She has moved into the CSUN Rally Scoring era top-10 in a pair of categories, currently ranking eighth in kills and seventh in attacks. Her best season offensively was in 2019 when she connected for 285 kills while she set a season-high for digs with 245 in 2021. This season, Nevarez is hitting a season-high .228 on a team-high 591 swings.
HUNTER COLLECTS CAREER-HIGHSÂ
Redshirt sophomore Taylor Hunter had an impressive weekend in road matches at Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State. On Friday against the Titans, Hunter connected for a career-high 17 kills with just a single hitting error on 22 swings to hit a career-best .727. She also added six blocks at Fullerton, including a season-high three solo blocks. Hunter then came back with a career-high 12 blocks at Long Beach State on Saturday, the most by a Matador player since Lynda Morales also had 12.0 against Cal State Fullerton in 2007. In the two matches, Hunter had 23 matches and four hitting errors on 40 swings to hit .475 along with 18 total blocks.
MATADOR QUICK SETS
Breanna Mitchell, who passed 300 digs for the season last week, continues to be the highest ranked CSUN player in the Big West individual stats as she ranks third at 4.30 digs per set this week. Mitchell trails only Campbell Jensen of UC Irvine who is averaging 4.67 digs per set and Macall Peed of UC Santa Barbara who averages 4.35 digs per set. Lauryn Anderson also remains third this week in hitting percentage this week at .353, behind only Amber Igiede of Hawai'i (.431) and Onye Ofoegbu of UC Irvine (.399). Anderson is now hitting .353 on the season but is six points higher at .359 in four Big West matches.
CSUN REMAINS TOP-FIVE IN BIG WEST IN BLOCKSÂ
The Matadors moved up to fifth in the Big West in team blocking this week, averaging 2.30 per set. CSUN has 161 total blocks (55 solo, 212 assists) in 70 sets which trails UUC Irvine (2.61), UC Santa Barbara (2.58), Cal Poly (2.49) and UC San Diego (2.38). After moving up to fourth last week in the Big West in both digs and aces, the Matadors slipped to sixth in digs this week, averaging 14.26 per set. In 70 sets this season, the Matadors have 998 team digs which is second only to UC San Diego (1,127 digs in 78 sets). CSUN is eighth this week in hitting percentage (.198), kills per set (11.64), assists per set (10.61) and aces per set (1.24).
PRICE NAMED CSUN'SÂ DIRECTOR OF WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
John Price was named Director of Women's Volleyball at CSUN in June of 2022. He will oversee both the indoor and beach volleyball programs. Price returned to the CSUN indoor program in 2021 where he served as an assistant on interim head coach Susie Terrusa's staff. Price previously as an assistant coach on Jeff Stork's women's volleyball coaching staff from 2012-2015. He also served one season as the head coach of the CSUN women's volleyball team in 1993, compiling a record of 12-17 as an NCAA Independent.
Price's CSUN resume also includes 12 seasons as the head coach of the nationally-ranked Matador men's volleyball team (1986-1997) where he amassed an overall record of 194-158 (.551) leading CSUN to a 23-10 record and a berth in the 1993 NCAA Championship match where the Matadors fell to UCLA. Price then moved on to CSU Bakersfield women's volleyball and remains the winningest coach in program history. He posted a career record of 232-169 (.579) over 14 seasons, leading the Roadrunners to a 28-4 overall record in his first season. Price was also at the helm of the CSUB program when the school made the transition from NCAA Division II to Division I status. Price's 2008 squad was the first Roadrunner team in any sport to post a winning record (18-15) in the school's Division I era.
LOOKING AHEAD
After two home matches this weekend, the Matadors conclude their three-match homestand on Tuesday against UC Santa Barbara at 7 p.m. CSUN then heads to Hawai'i for a single match on Oct. 21 before returning home to host UC San Diego (Oct. 28) and UC Irvine (Oct. 29) to close the month of October.
#UniteTheValley
