California State University at Northridge
Cal State Bakersfield
CSUN Welcomes Cal State Bakersfield & Hawai'i to The Valley This Week
10/25/2023 5:19:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
CSUNÂ THIS WEEK:
MATCH #22 (BIG WEST #11)
Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners (6-16, 2-8 Big West) @ CSUN Matadors (4-17, 2-8 Big West)
Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023Â - 6:00 p.m. PDT
Premier America Credit Union Arena - Northridge, Calif.
Live Stats // Watch
MATCH #23 (BIG WEST #12)
Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine @ CSUN Matadors
Friday, Oct. 27, 2023Â - 6:00Â p.m. PDT
Premier America Credit Union Arena - Northridge, Calif.
Live Stats // Watch
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNWVB
FORÂ STARTERS
The CSUN women's volleyball team (4-17, 2-8 Big West) returns home the week to open up a two-match homestand Thursday against Cal State Bakersfield at 6 p.m. The Matadors and Roadrunners meet for the second time this season as the second half of the Big West season gets underway. CSUN then welcomes Hawai'i on Friday evening at 7 p.m.
CSUN dropped a pair of 3-0 matches last week, falling at home to Cal Poly before dropping a road match at conference-leading UC Santa Barbara.
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+ with Darren Preston handling the play-by-play and CSUN men's volleyball assistant coach Ryan Mason providing commentary for select matches. All matches will also feature live stats at GoMatadors.com.
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
Cal State Bakersfield (6-16, 2-8 Big West) travels to CSUN on Thursday before hosting Hawai'i on Saturday. Ava Palm leads the Roadrunners, averaging 2.80 kills per set which ranks 10th in the Big West this week. Breklyn Pulling ranks sixth in hitting percentage at .295. Bakersfield ranks ninth in team hitting percentage (.166) which ranks just behind the Matadors (.176) who rank eighth.
Series: Thursday's match is the 45th meeting all-time between the Matadors and Runners with CSUN holding a 33-11 lead in the all-time series. Bakersfield claimed the first meeting this season, winning in five sets at home on Sept. 19. CSUN is 16-3 all-time against the Runners in Northridge.
Hawai'i (15-6, 8-2 Big West), which plays at CSUN and Bakersfield this week, has won three straight after a pair of sweeps at UC Davis and UC Riverside last week. Amber Igieide earned her 10th career Big West weekly honor after leading Hawai'i with a combined 30 kills, 5.00 kill/set average, a .510 hitting percentage (30-5-49), and five total blocks. Currently, Igiede leads The Big West with 285 total kills, 4.64 points per set, and her .398 hitting percentage not only leads the conference, but is ranked No. 25 in the NCAA.
Series: Friday's match is the 32nd meeting all-time between CSUN and Hawai'i with the Rainbow Wahine holding a commanding 29-2 lead in the series. Hawai'i, winners of 16 straight in the series, won in straight sets in Honolulu on Sept. 24.
BIG WEST'S SECOND HALF GETS UNDERWAY
This week's matches against Bakersfield and Hawai'i mark the opening of the second half of the Big West season. The Matadors finished the first 10 matches at 2-8 (1-4 at home, 1-4 on the road) and will have four of their final eight matches of the season at home. CSUN will have return matches against Bakersfield, Hawai'i, Long Beach State, UC San Diego, UC Davis, UC Riverside, UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton. The Matadors will only play UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly once this season.
SENTES, KNUDSEN IN BIG WEST'S TOP-FIVE
A trio of CSUN players continue to rank in the top-20 in three individual Big West statistical categories this week. Freshman DS Paige Sentes is the highest ranked CSUN player this week, ranking fourth in service aces. With a team-high 32 aces in 84 sets, Sentes ranks fourth averaging 0.38 aces per set. Long Beach State's Natalie Glenn leads the conference, averaging 0.51 aces per set. Knudsen continues to rank fifth in digs this week, averaging 3.82 per set with 302 digs over 79 sets played. Taylor Hunter slipped to 12th in blocks per set at 0.95 but dropped out of the top-20 in hitting percentage. As a team, the Matadors continue to rank as high as seventh in blocks per set (2.05) and are eighth in three other statistical categories.
BARRON, HUNTER ON CAREER CHARTS
Juniors Carisa Barron and Taylor Hunter have also reached the top-10 in CSUN's Rally Scoring era in recent weeks. With 1,609 career assists, Barron has moved into seventh place, 109 assists behind Angela Hupp who is currently sixth with 1,718. Barron, who posted her fourth triple-double of the season (10th overall) on Saturday at UC Santa Barbara with 15 assists, 13 kills, and a career-high 19 digs. has now played in 320 career sets in her Matador career. Hunter has moved into the top 10 in all three blocking categories. She ranks 10th with 31 career solo blocks, 10th with 226 career block assists and 10th with 257 career total blocks. Hunter leads the Matadors this season with 13 solo blocks and 67 block assists. With a team-high 32 aces this season, Sentes is quickly closing in on the season top-10. Nadine Nickel (2001, 2003) and Sam Orlandini currently share eighth-place on season aces list with 33.
SEASON/CAREER MILESTONES
Perri Starkey and Barron are each closing in on 200 kills for the season. Starkey comes into this week with a team-high 198 kills while also leading the team averaging 2.36 kills per set. Barron is five kills away from 200 which would mark the second season in her CSUN career in which she would reach the milestone. Hunter is also closing in on 300 career sets played and also 14 attempts away from reaching 400 attacks in a season for the second time in her Matador career. Knudsen has exceeded 300 digs this season with a team-high 302 while averaging 3.82 digs per set.
MATADOR QUICK SETS
CSUN is 2-4 in the month of October with two matches remaining this month. The Matadors finished 1-3 in August and 1-10 in September ... The Matadors' 3-0 win at Cal State Fullerton on Oct. 13 was CSUN's first true road win of the season. The Matadors also defeated UTRGV in straight sets in a neutral site match in San Francisco on Sept. 15. The win marked CSUN's first conference road win since defeating UC Riverside in five sets last Nov. 17 ... Redshirt sophomore Nieko Thomas recorded her first kill in more than two years at UC Irvine on Saturday. Thomas, who has appeared in three matches (six sets) this season, had a career-high five blocks along with one kill against the Anteaters. Thomas' last kill came at Cal Poly on Oct. 2, 2021 during her freshman season ... Leah Miller hit a season-high .364 with 11 kills and three errors on 22 swings at Cal State Fullerton.Â
LOOKING AHEAD
After this weeks' home matches against Cal State Bakersfield and Hawai'i, the Matadors will head back on the road for their final four road matches of the season. The road swing begins Nov. 3 at Long Beach State before CSUN will travel to UC San Diego (Nov. 4), UC Davis (Nov. 8) and UC Riverside (Nov. 11). The Matadors will close the regular season at home against UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton (Nov. 17-18).
#GoMatadors
