California State University at Northridge
4-14,2-5Big West
Cal State Fullerton
1-15,0-7Big West
Hot-Hitting Matadors Pick Up Road Sweep at Cal State Fullerton
10/13/2023 7:52:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
FULLERTON, Calif. – The CSUN women's volleyball team hit over .300 for the first time in eight matches as the Matadors won their second straight in a 3-0 sweep (25-19, 25-19, 25-19) at Cal State Fullerton in a Big West match Friday night at Titan Gym.
CSUN (4-14, 2-5 Big West) had three players with double figures in kills, led by Leah Miller's match-high 11. Miller hit a season-high .364 backed by Carisa Barron and Perri Starkey who each had 10 kills as Barron hit a season-high .500 on 18 attacks while Starkey hit .304 on 23 swings. Barron completed her third double-double of the season by adding 16 assists and 10 digs while Starkey notched her sixth double-double with a match-high 12 digs.
For the match, CSUN hit .308 with 44 kills and just 12 errors on 104 swings while limiting the Titans to a .134 hitting clip. Barron, Starkey, and Paige Sentes each had two aces as the Matadors served six as a team to two for Fullerton. CSUN also had a sizable lead in blocks (7-2) while each team had 45 digs.
SET 1: CSUN 25, CSF 19
Leading by one at 5-4, CSUN used a kill by Miller and a Fullerton hitting error to open up a 7-4 cushion. The Matadors still led by three (8-5) when the Titans went on a 5-1 run to take the lead 10-9. A kill from Barron and an ace from Starkey gave CSUN back the lead for good at 11-10 which eventually led to a 9-3 run that put the Matadors in front 19-13.
Hunter connects from the left pin and #CSUN takes the opening set in Fullerton 25-19 ... Barron paces the Matadors with 5 kills and 5 assists in set 1#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/hkCZW118zn
— CSUN Women's Volleyball (@CSUNWVB) October 14, 2023
SET 2: CSUN 25, CSF 19
With the Matadors holding a slim 13-12 lead, a Miller kill fueled a 7-3 CSUN run that opened up a 20-15 cushion. The Titans answered with a 3-0 run to cut the lead to 20-18, but the Matadors would close the set with a 5-1 run, capped by a Miller kill to take the 25-19 win.
Miller with a pair of swings on the final point of set 2 as her second is a kill giving #CSUN a 25-19 win ... Matadors up 2-0 at Fullerton#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/DSLQL8qaFA
— CSUN Women's Volleyball (@CSUNWVB) October 14, 2023
SET 3: CSUN 25, CSF 19
Needing a win to stay in the match, the hosts jumped out to a five-point lead at 11-6. CSUN then outscored the Titans 8-3 over the next 11 points to tie the score at 14-14 on a Taylor Hunter kill. Barron served an ace on the ensuing point to give the Matadors the lead for good as CSUN would outscore the Titans 10-5 to close out the 3-0 win.
Here's match point as Barron's right side swing gives #CSUN the 3-0 win at Fullerton!#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/DIId7zHmYD
— CSUN Women's Volleyball (@CSUNWVB) October 14, 2023
NOTES
- Redshirt freshman Tatiana Turgeon posted a career-high seven blocks while adding three kills and two digs.
- Kaia Kanan had a team-high 17 assists, combining with Barron for 33 assists.
- Libero Kelsey Knudsen had seven digs and four assists.
- With the win, CSUN won its second straight over the Titans, improving to 42-14 all-time against Cal State Fullerton.
ACCORDING TO COACH JOHN PRICE
"We did some things in practice this week, working on our approaches and some other things that really helped us tonight. We came out a little flat in the third set but recovered and made a nice run to close it out. Leah and Carisa both attacked well on the right side and it was nice to see them both hit at a high percentage on the same night."
UP NEXT
CSUN wraps up its two-match trip to Orange County on Saturday as the Matadors take on UC Irvine at the Bren Center at 4 p.m.
#GoMatadors
