California State University at Northridge
5-20,3-11Big West
UC San Diego
17-9,9-5Big West
UC San Diego Hands CSUN a Straight-Set Loss in La Jolla
11/4/2023 8:44:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
LA JOLLA, Calif. – The CSUN women's volleyball team got a match-high 23 digs from libero Kelsey Knudsen but the Matadors were swept for the third straight match as UC San Diego claimed a 25-15, 25-23, 25-22 Big West win Saturday night at LionTree Arena.
Knudsen was a highlight for CSUN (5-20, 3-11), coming within five digs of her season high. Offensively, the Matadors were led by Perri Starkey who had eight kills and seven digs but hit just .031 on 32 swings. Iye Okolo and Leah Miller each added seven kills with Okolo hitting .267 on 15 swings while Miller hit .235 on 17 attacks.
For the match, the host Tritons out-hit the Matadors .213 to .085 while out blocking CSUN 19-6. UCSD also had six aces to the Matadors' two. Behind Knudsen's 23 digs, CSUN posted a 54-43 advantage in team digs.
SET 1: UCSD 25, CSUN 15
After a Triton service error tied the score at 1-1, UCSD outscored the Matadors 10-1 over the next 11 points to lead 11-2. One of seven Triton blocks in the set extended the lead to 10 (13-3). CSUN answered with a 5-2 run, capped by a Turgeon kill, to pull within seven at 15-8. That was as close as the Matadors would get as the Tritons would close out a 10-point win.
SET 2: UCSD 25, CSUN 23
The second set featured seven ties and five lead changes as the Matadors led by as many as four when Okolo's solo block gave CSUN a 9-5 lead. Miller's kill out of a UCSD timeout extended the lead to five before the Tritons used an 8-2 run to take a 13-12 lead. Trailing 20-16, CSUN put together a 6-1 run, highlighted by a pair of Carisa Barron kills, to re-take the lead 22-21. The hosts however would claim four of the final five points to take the 25-23 win and a two-set lead.
S2 l Miller's tip can't be returned and #CSUN has opened up its biggest lead at 10-5#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/lFVsWs58lG
— CSUN Women's Volleyball (@CSUNWVB) November 5, 2023
SET 3: UCSD 25, CSUN 22
After hitting below .100 in each of the first two sets, CSUN hit .125 in the final set but came up three points short. After trailing by as many as nine at 14-5, the Matadors used a late run to pull within three at 23-20 following a Miller kill. After a UCSD kill, CSUN saved a pair of match points on kills from Okolo and Starkey before a Matador hitting error sent the Tritons to the 25-22 win.
MATCH NOTES
- Tatiana Turgeon hit a team-high .273 with five kills on 11 swings to go with a team-high five blocks.
- With three aces, Paige Sentes upped her team-leading total to 22.
- Taylor Dunlap matched Barron with 13 assists while also recording six digs and one ace.
- The Tritons have now won six straight over the Matadors - all in Big West play - trimming CSUN's lead to 10-6 in the all-time series.
"We haven't been a super high-error team all season but recently we've made a ton which has really hurt us. What's been crazy is how close we've been to winning sets with as many errors as we've had. That shows me that we're still playing hard, we're just not consistent enough."
UP NEXT
CSUN remains on the road for its final two regular season road matches next week. The Matadors travel to UC Davis on Wednesday (Nov. 8) and UC Riverside on Saturday (Nov. 11). Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN+.
#GoMatadors
