California State University at Northridge
Santa Clara
CSUN Opens 2023 Season at Santa Clara/SJSU Invitational
8/23/2023 12:41:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
CSUNÂ THIS WEEK:
MATCH #1
CSUN Matadors (0-0) vs. Santa Clara Broncos (0-0)
Friday, Aug. 25, 2023Â - 12:30 p.m. PDT
Mission College Gymnasium - Santa Clara, Calif.
Live Stats
MATCH #2
CSUN Matadors at San Jose State Spartans
Friday, Aug. 25, 2023Â - 7 p.m. PDT
Spartan Gym - San Jose, Calif.
Live Stats // Watch
MATCH #3
CSUN Matadors vs. California Baptist Lancers
Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023Â - 2Â p.m. PDT
Spartan Gym - San Jose, Calif.
Live Stats
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNWVB
FORÂ STARTERS
The CSUN women's volleyball team (0-0, 0-0 Big West) gets the 2023 season underway this weekend as the Matadors travel to the Bay Area for three matches as part of the Santa Clara/SJSU Invitational. CSUN opens the season Friday against Santa Clara in a match that will be played at Mission College. CSUN then travels across town to meet San Jose State at Spartan Gym Friday at 7 p.m. before capping the weekend against California Baptist at Spartan Gym Saturday at 2 p.m.
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.
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 TOURNAMENT FIELD
Santa Clara (0-0) finished 13-19 overall and 8-10 in the West Coast Conference in 2022. The Broncos earned a berth in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship for the second time under head coach Erin Lindsey before falling to Pacific in the second round.Â
Series: Friday's match is the 13th meeting all-time between CSUN and Santa Clara with the Broncos holding a slim 7-5 edge in the series. Santa Clara claimed the last meeting between the two teams, winning in four sets in Fresno. The Matadors are 1-3 all-time against Santa Clara in neutral site matches.
San Jose State (0-0) finished the 2022 season 21-9 overall and 14-4 in the Mountain West. The Spartans, who wound up second in the conference standings, advanced to the Mountain West championship before falling in four sets to Utah State.
Series: Friday's match is the 12th meeting all-time between CSUN and San Jose State with the Matadors leading 7-4 in the series. CSUN has won four straight over the Spartans, including a four-set win in San Jose in 2010, the last time the teams matched up.
California Baptist (0-0) finished 12-14 overall and 7-7 in the WAC in 2022. The Lancers earned a berth in their first-ever WAC Tournament last season, falling to eventual champions Stephen F. Austin in the opening round.
Series: Saturday's match is the first-ever match between CSUN and the Lancers.
BARRON NAMED TOÂ 2022 ALL-BIG WEST TEAM
Carisa Barron earned honorable mention recognition from the conference's 11 head coaches on the 2022 All-Big West Team. Barron, entering her third season in 2023, led the Matadors in assists with 624 (5.07 aps) while also ranking third in both kills (253) and digs (272) and fourth in blocks (57) in 2022. After posting her first career triple-double in CSUN's five-set win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Sept. 16, Barron added five more triple-doubles in 20 Big West matches. The only Big West women's volleyball player with multiple triple-doubles last season (UC Riverside's Tayler Hifo had one), Barron also emerged as one of CSUN's top offensive threats this season. In addition to posting six triples on the season, she finished third on the Matadors with a career-high 253 kills (2.06 kps) while also averaging a team-high 5.07 assists per set along with 2.21 digs per set. With 744 total attacks last season, Barron had the most swings from the setter spot since Sydney Gedryn had 406 attacks in 2012. She led the Matadors in assists with 624 (5.07 aps) while also ranking third in both kills (253) and digs (272) and fourth in blocks (57).
ORSHOFF CLOSING IN ON 1,000 CAREER KILLS
Taylor Orshoff opens the season with 786 career kills and would need 214 kills this season to become the 15th player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills. After putting down 170 kills as a freshman in 2019, Orshoff had a team-high 314 kills in 2021 before posting 302 kills last season. Orshoff has appeared in 323 career sets at CSUN while taking 2,277 attempts along with 160 digs (0.50 dps) and 141 total blocks.
NEW FACES IN 2023
CSUN returns five letterwinners and four starters from its 2022 squad. In addition to Barron, Orshoff, Kaia Kanan, Taylor Hunter all return to the starting lineup in 2023. Among the new faces joining the CSUN roster this season include Leah Miller, a transfer from Arizona State, Perri Starkey, a transfer from UC Davis and Kelsey Knudsen, a graduate transfer from BYU. The Matadors also boast a strong freshman class this season which includes Paige Sentes (Bakersfield), Taylor Dunlap (Manhattan Beach) and Madison DiGiorgio (Oak Hills).Â
TOURNAMENT TIME
CSUN's 29-match regular-season schedule features 11 non-conference matches and three tournaments before the Big West season gets underway Sept. 19 against Cal State Bakersfield. After the tournament at Santa Clara and San Jose State this weekend, CSUN hosts Fresno State in a non-conference match next Wednesday (Aug. 30) to open the home season. CSUN then travels to Fresno to meet the Bulldogs on Sept. 1 before resuming tournament play with three matches in Portland (Sept. 8-9) and three matches in San Francisco (Sept. 15-16). The 18-match Big West schedule opens with a two-match road trip (Sept. 19-24) as CSUN travels to Bakersfield and Hawai'i before the Matadors return home to host UC Riverside in their conference home opener on Sept. 29.
CSUN IN SEASON OPENERSÂ
CSUN comes into Friday's match against Santa Clara with an all-time record of 20-22 (.476) in season-openers dating back to 1978. The Matadors will look to snap their current skid in season-openers as CSUN has dropped its last seven season-openers dating back to 2015. CSUN fell to Drake to open the 2022 season at the Air Force tournament in Colorado. Prior to that, CSUN dropped season openers to Denver (2021), Portland (2019), Arizona (2018), Portland State (2017), Lipscomb (2016, 2015). CSUN's last season-opening win came over UNLV at the USD Invitational in San Diego in 2014.
LOOKING AHEAD
After opening the season with three matches at Santa Clara and San Jose State, CSUN will host Fresno State in its 2023 home opener next Wednesday (Aug. 30) at 7 p.m. The Matadors and Bulldogs will then meet in Fresno two nights later (Sept. 1).
#GoMatadors
