California State University at Northridge
Eastern Washington
CSUN Returns to Tournament Play in Portland This Weekend
9/7/2023 8:25:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
CSUNÂ THIS WEEK:
MATCH #6
CSUN Matadors (1-4) vs. Eastern Washington (2-4)
Friday, Sept. 8, 2023Â - 11Â a.m. PDT
Chiles Center - Portland, Ore.
Live Stats
MATCH #7
CSUN Matadors at Portland Pilots
Friday, Sept. 8, 2023Â - 5Â p.m. PDT
Chiles Center - Portland, Calif.
Live Stats // Watch
MATCH #8
CSUN Matadors vs. Wyoming Cowgirls
Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023Â - 11Â a.m. PDT
Chiles Center - Portland, Calif.
Live Stats
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNWVB
FORÂ STARTERS
The CSUN women's volleyball team (1-4, 0-0 Big West) returns to tournament play this weekend as the Matadors travel to Portland to meet Eastern Washington, Portland and Wyoming at the Chiles Center. CSUN is coming off a 1-1 week that saw the Matadors pick up their first 3-0 sweep of the season in their home opener against Fresno State. CSUN then fell in five sets in Fresno to cap the week. The Matadors will meet Eastern Washington (11 a.m.) and the host Pilots (5 p.m.) on Friday before taking on Wyoming Saturday at 11 a.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+ 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 TOURNAMENT FIELD
Eastern Washington (2-4) finished 1-2 at its own EWU Tournament last weekend, defeating Seattle (3-1) before falling to Nevada (3-0) and Pacific (3-0). Sage Brustad led the Eagles with a her fourth double-double of the season with 12 kills and 11 digs against Pacific while Bri Gunderson was named to the all-tournament team.
Series: Friday's match is the 17th meeting all-time between CSUN and Eastern Washington with the Eagles holding an 11-5 edge in the series. EWU claimed the last meeting between the former Big Sky rivals in Wyoming in 2016.
Portland (3-3) dropped two of its three matches at the Sacramento State Invitational last weekend, capped by a four-set loss to the host Hornets. The Pilots opened the weekend with a 3-1 loss to San Jose State before topping Cal State Fullerton in five sets. Outside hitter Maui Robins averages a team-high 2.86 kills per set for Portland which is hitting .163 as a team through six matches.
Series: Friday's match is the seventh meeting all-time between CSUN and Portland with the series tied at three wins apiece. The Pilots have claimed the last three meetings between the two teams, most recently winning in four sets in 2019 in Utah.
Wyoming (6-0) is off to its best since opening the 2014 season with seven consecutive wins. The Cowgirls went 3-0 at the Texas Tech Red Raider Classic last weekend, sweeping Texas A&M-Commerce before defeating Texas Tech (3-1) and Louisiana (3-2). Skylar Erickson and Sarah Holcomb were named to the all-tournament team at the Classic, with Holcomb being named the tournament's MVP.
Series: Saturday's match is just the fourth meeting all-time between CSUN and Wyoming with the Cowgirls holding a 2-1 edge in the series. Wyoming claimed the last meeting between the two teams, winning in straight sets in Laramie in 2016.
CSUN IMPROVES TO 22-22 IN HOME OPENERSÂ
With their first 3-0 sweep of the season, the Matadors improved to 22-22 (.500) all-time in home openers dating back to 1976. CSUN has now won two straight home openers after also sweeping Cal State Bakersfield in its 2022 home and conference home opener.Â
KNUDSEN MOVES UP TO FIFTH IN DIGS
Graduate transfer Kelsey Knudsen, CSUN's digs leader in all six matches in 2023, moved into the top five in the Big West this week. With 93 digs in 22 sets, Knudsen is averaging 4.23 digs per set which ranks behind only four Big West players. Macall Peed of UC Santa Barbara is the conference leader this week at 5.15 digs per set.
BARRON POSTS FIRST TRIPLE-DOUBLE OF 2023
After leading the Big West with six triple-doubles in 2022, junior Carisa Barron notched her first of the 2023 season with 21 assists, 13 kills and 12 digs at Fresno State. Last season, Barron was the only Big West women's volleyball player with multiple triple-doubles (UC Riverside's Tayler Hifo had one), Barron had five triples in her last 14 matches of the season.
ORSHOFF CLOSES IN ON 1,000 CAREER KILLS
Taylor Orshoff, who opened the season with 786 career kills, has added 55 kills to her total this season and now needs 159 kills 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 also posted a career first in the opening weekend of the season, recording the first two double-doubles of her career. She had identical 13 kill-11 dig performances against both San Jose State and California Baptist last weekend which surpassed her previous career-high in digs which was eight against UC San Diego in 2021. Orshoff has now reached double figures in kills 39 times in her CSUN career.
MATADOR QUICK SETS
Sophomore Leah Miller connected for a season-high 16 kills at Fresno State. Miller also hit a season-high .359 on 39 attacks, committing just a pair of hitting errors ... Taylor Hunter had an impressive night in the home opener against Fresno State, knocking down a season-high 10 kills with just one error on 15 swings to hit .600. Hunter also added five blocks in each match against the Bulldogs, posting three solo blocks in the home opener ... Freshman Taylor Dunlap recorded her first collegiate double-double at Fresno State on Friday. Dunlap had a season-high 26 assists along with 10 digs for her first double-double ... After serving her first collegiate ace against CBU on Aug. 26, freshman Paige Sentes had three aces in both matches against Fresno State last week. Sentes also ranks second on the team with 46 digs, averaging 2.09 per set.
TOURNAMENT TIME
After three matches in Portland this weekend (Sept. 8-9), CSUN will complete the non-conference portion of the 2023 schedule with 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.
LOOKING AHEAD
Following this week's trip to Portland, the Matadors will face UTRGV, San Jose State and San Francisco in the Bay Area next weekend. The San Jose State match will be a re-match between the two teams after the Spartans topped CSUN in five sets on Aug. 25.
#GoMatadors
