Matadors Drop Straight-Set Decision at Cal Poly

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – The CSUN women's volleyball team battled through three deuce sets before falling to host Cal Poly, 3-0 in a Big West match Friday night at Mott Athletics Center.

Set scores were 26-24, 25-23, 25-23 as the Mustangs improve to 13-10 overall and 10-3 in the Big West. The Matadors drop their sixth straight match to slip to 7-18 overall and 2-11 in conference play.

Carisa Barron and Taylor Orshoff each had a team-high seven kills to lead CSUN which hit .168 (31-13-107) to Cal Poly's .228 (50-24-114).

KEY STATISTICS
• Barron, who hit .278 on 18 attacks, also added 13 assists, eight digs, a pair of blocks and one ace in a solid all-around match. Orshoff hit .115 on a team-high 26 swings to go with two digs and two blocks.
• Lauryn Anderson and Magdalena Juric each chipped in five kills with Juric hitting .200 on 15 swings while Anderson added a team-high six blocks and four digs.
• Emily Sparks matched Barron with 13 assists and four digs while libero Breanna Mitchell tied for team-high honors with eight digs.
• The Matadors posted 12 team blocks but were out-dug 56-36 by the Mustangs who also had a sizable 50-31 advantage in kills.
• Tommi Stockham led all hitters in the match with 22 kills (.289) while teammate Maia Dvoracek added 13 kills on .409 hitting.

COACH JOHN PRICE SAID
"We were right there in all three sets tonight, we just didn't finish. It's definitely frustrating to lose close games but we keep working and we keep fighting which is great. Honestly the team is playing hard and putting in the effort and hopefully we'll keep fighting and finish the season strong."

SET 1
The Matadors out-hit the Mustangs in the opening frame (.189 to .175) but could not hang on to a 24-23 lead late in the set. CSUN led by three early on after Anderson and Juric teamed up to stuff a Cal Poly attack. CSUN would lead by two at 7-5 and again at 15-13 before a 3-1 Matador run opened up a four-point lead at 18-14. Out of a timeout, the Mustangs would outscore CSUN 6-1 over the next seven points to take a 20-19 lead. The Matadors answered by taking three of the next five points to re-take the lead 23-22. Barron would connect for a kill to snap a 23-23 tie giving CSUN set point but the hosts would rally to claim the final three points in a 26-24 win.

SET 2
The second set was equally tight as the Matadors battled back from an early 9-6 Mustang lead to knot the score at 10-10. Eight more ties ensued as the teams battled to a 20-20 tie following a Stockham kill. Cal Poly would score three straight to lead 23-20 when a Taylor Hunter was followed by a Mustang setting error which pulled the Matadors within one at 23-22. Still down one at 24-23, a Dvoracek kill sent the hosts to the 25-23 win.

SET 3
The Matadors would hit a match-high .243 in the final set, compared to .314 for Cal Poly as the Mustangs pulled out a second 25-23 win. After 15 ties in set one and 10 in set two, the two teams played to 12 ties in set three which also featured eight lead changes. A Nicole Nevarez ace gave CSUN an early 8-5 lead and the Matadors would hold the lead until a Stockham kill put the Mustangs on top 12-11. The Matadors would trail by four at 19-15 before rallying behind some timely blocks from Anderson to knot the score at 19-19. A Cal Poly hitting error and a Sparks kill put CSUN up 21-19 when Cal Poly rallied for five straight points to lead 24-21. A pair of Orshoff kills would save a pair of set points before Stockham's final kill of the night sent the hosts to the 25-23 win.

UP NEXT
The Matadors wrap up a two-match trip to the Central Valley, taking on CSU Bakersfield at Icardo Center Saturday at 5 p.m.

#UniteTheValley

Matadors Drop Straight-Set Decision at Cal Poly

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Team Stats

Taylor Orshoff

Carisa Barron

Lauryn Anderson

Magdalena Juric