California State University at Northridge
UC Riverside
CSUN Travels to Riverside Thursday, Hosts UC Davis on Saturday
10/17/2024 12:53:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
CSUNÂ THIS WEEK:
MATCH #18Â (BIG WEST #7)
CSUN Matadors (6-11, 1-5 Big West) @ UC Riverside (5-14, 0-6 Big West)
Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024 - 6:00 p.m. PDT
SRC Arena - Riverside, Calif.
ESPN+Â //Â Live Stats
MATCH #19 (BIG WEST #8)
UC Davis Aggies @ CSUN Matadors
Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024 - 2:00 p.m. PDT
Premier America Credit Union Arena - Northridge, Calif.
ESPN+Â //Â Live Stats
In-game X updates:Â @CSUNWVB
CSUN WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL MEDIA NOTES
FORÂ STARTERS
The CSUN women's volleyball team (6-11, 1-5 Big West) hits the road on Thursday, looking to snap a two-match Big West skid against UC Riverside at SRC Arena at 6 p.m. The Matadors return home on Saturday to welcome UC Davis to Premier America Credit Union Arena at 2 p.m. CSUN dropped a pair of Big West matches at home last week, falling to Long Beach State in straight sets before dropping a 3-1 decision to UC San Diego.
FOLLOW YOUR MATADORS
Both matches this week will stream live on ESPN+ with live stats also available at GoMatadors.com. Fans can follow CSUN Matador women's volleyball online at the official home of CSUN athletics, www.GoMatadors.com. Darren Preston handles the play-by-play on E+ with CSUN men's volleyball assistant coach Ryan Mason providing commentary for select matches. Fans are also encouraged to check the CSUN Athletics Department's official X 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
UC Riverside (5-14, 0-6 Big West) has dropped six straight matches (all Big West contests) after falling in straight sets at Hawai'i last weekend. The Highlanders and UC Santa Barbara have played the fewest home matches (3) among Big West teams and are 0-3 at home this season with losses to Nevada (3-0), UC San Diego (3-2), and Long Beach State (3-0). UCR ranks 10th in the Big West in hitting (.190)) while libero Jessica Dean leads the Big West in digs per set at 4.04, which is just ahead of CSUN's Paige Sentes (3.99).
Series: Thursday's match is the 87th meeting all-time between the Matadors and Highlanders with CSUN holding a commanding 63-23 lead in the all-time series. The Matadors are 24-10 all-time against UCR in Riverside. The Highlanders topped CSUN in five sets in Northridge last season before the Matadors returned the favor, winning in five in Riverside.
UC Davis (10-5, 5-1 Big West) opens the week at Cal State Bakersfield on Thursday before venturing to Northridge on Saturday. The Aggies improved to 5-1 in league play With a pair of Big West wins last week, (3-0 over UCR, 3-1 at Hawai'i). Senior Olivia Utterback and sophomore Mia Starr have earned Big West weekly honors as Utterback was named the Offensive Player of the Week and Starr earned Setter of the Week.
Series: Saturday's match is the 41st meeting all-time between CSUN and UC Davis with the Matadors holding a 22-18 edge in the series. CSUN is 10-8 all-time in 18 matches against the Aggies in Northridge. UC Davis claimed both matches last season and has won three straight in series.
KOLAR ON NCAA ASSISTS LISTS
Sophomore Katie Kolar continues to rank among the top setters in the Big West while also ranking on a pair of national lists this week. Kolar, who leads CSUN and the Big West with 698 total assists, ranks second only to Cal Poly's Emme Bullis (10.54) in assists per set among conference setters. Kolar comes into the week averaging 9.97 assists per set, Lauren Yacobucci of Wright State is the national leader at 11.92 assists per set. With 698 assists in 17 matches, Kolar ranks 14th in the NCAA in total assists. Mekelia Aupiu of Illinois State is the national leader in total assists with 795.
CSUN CAREER MILESTONESÂ
With 17 digs in two matches last week, sophomore libero Paige Sentes passed 500 digs in her CSUN career. Sentes, who leads the Matadors with 279 digs this season, has already surpassed her season total from 2023 (234). Senior Layla Cederlind appeared in both matches last week and has now appeared in 99 career matches (309 sets). Cederlind appeared in a career-high 29 matches as a junior in 2023. Redshirt sophomore middle blockers Iye Okolo and Tatiana Turgeon both reached the 100 career blocks milestone in recent weeks. With 13 blocks in matches at Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine (Oct, 4-5), including a season-best nine stuffs at UCI, Okolo reached 100 blocks in her Matador career. Okolo opens the week with 104 career blocks including 15 solo stuffs. Turgeon, who leads the Matadors with 59 blocks this season, reached 100 career blocks with her fourth block at UC Irvine. She opens the week with 114 career blocks, including nine solo blocks. Junior Leah Miller is closing in on 450 career kills in just under two seasons.
MATADORS IN THE BIG WEST RANKINGS
In addition to Kolar, Sentes ranks as high as second in the Big West this week. Sentes slipped from the conference lead into second in digs last week, and is averaging 3.99 digs per set this week. Amaris Smith ranks third in the conference in kills per set (3.55) followed by Hailey Brockway (3.46) in sixth, and Miller (2.69) in 17th. Also for the Matadors, Sentes and Autumn Rojelio are 17th in aces (0.29), and Turgeon and Okolo rank ninth (0.86) and 17th (0.74) in blocks respectively. As a team. CSUN ranks third in the Big West in assists per set (11.89) and is fourth in digs (14.59) and fifth in both kills (12.67) and aces (1.49).
MATADOR QUICK SETS
After appearing in her first match against UC Santa Barbara on Sept. 28, junior Natalia Brandlin notched her first CSUN kill against UC San Diego on Saturday ... Three CSUN hitters are averaging over 2.50 kills per set, Smith at 3.55, Brockway at 3.46, and Miller at 2.69.
MONTOYA IN HIS FIRST SEASON AS CSUN HEAD COACHÂ
Aquiles Montoya was named the ninth head coach of the CSUN women's volleyball program on Apr. 10, 2024. Montoya comes to CSUN after spending the past four seasons as associate head coach and director of recruiting at Portland State. He was instrumental in three straight Vikings' student-athletes earning the Big Sky Conference's Top Newcomer award. On the court, Portland State made consecutive postseason appearances in 2021 and 2022, qualifying for the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC). The Vikings won their first-round match in 2021, giving Portland State its first win at a national postseason tournament in Division I program history. The Vikings rise in the Big Sky Conference coincided with Montoya's tenure as an assistant and associate head coach under Portland State head coach Michael Seeman. The Vikings posted winning seasons, both overall and in conference play, in each of Montoya's last three seasons while reaching the Big Sky championship match in 2022, their first appearance since 2013. Prior to Portland State, Montoya spent the previous three seasons as the lead assistant of the Pacific Boxers' varsity team. He helped the Boxers set program records for wins in back-to-back seasons in 2017 and 2018. The Boxers went 17-7 overall and 10-6 in the NCAA Division III Northwest Conference (NWC) in 2017, then topped that the following year while going 18-8 overall and 11-5 in NWC play.
LOOKING AHEAD
Following Saturday's match against UC Davis, the Matadors will host Cal State Bakersfield on Oct. 24 before flying to Hawai'i for a match on Oct. 27. CSUN will then open the second half of the Big West season on Nov. 1 against Cal State Fullerton.
#GoMatadors
