California State University at Northridge
7-11,2-5Big West
UC Riverside
5-15,0-7Big West
Smith, Miller Power CSUN to 3-0 Road Sweep at UC Riverside
10/17/2024 9:36:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Amaris Smith and Leah Miller combined for 23 kills as the CSUN women's volleyball team picked up its second straight road win, sweeping UC Riverside in a Big West match Thursday night at SRC Arena.
Set scores were 25-22, 25-14, 25-22 as the Matadors improve to 7-11 overall and 2-5 in the Big West.
Smith led all hitters in the match with 12 kills, hitting .229 on 35 swings to go with seven digs and a pair of aces. Leah Miller also reached double figures with 11 kills on .455 hitting. Miller, who also had four digs and two blocks, committed just a single hitting error on 22 attacks.
Behind the eighth double-double of the season for setter Katie Kolar, the Matadors out-hit the host Highlanders .275 to .147. Kolar recorded 31 assists, 11 digs, and a pair of blocks to match Hailey Brockway for team-high honors in double-doubles.
In addition to its hitting advantage, CSUN also had 44 kills to UCR's 32 while posting a 6-3 in aces, 43-39 in digs, and 8-5 in blocks.
SET 1: CSUN 25, UCR 22
After the hosts tied the score at 7-7 in the opening frame, CSUN scored five straight to open up a 12-7 cushion. After a Highlander kill, the Matadors went on another 5-0 run to lead by as many as nine at 17-8. Still down nine at 21-12, UCR put together a late 10-3 run to get as close as 24-22 when Smith connected on set point sending the Matadors to the 25-22 win.
Set one goes to CSUN!
— CSUN Women's Volleyball (@csunwomensvb) October 18, 2024
Let's keep it rolling.#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/qJJVAdouQA
SET 2: CSUN 25, UCR 14
After hitting a blistering ,353 in the opening set, the Matadors cooled a bit in the second set (.226) but still had plenty of margin in a 25-14 win. A Brockway ace capped an 8-2 run to open the set and CSUN would never trail. A UC Riverside hitting error extended the Matador lead to double digits (21-10) before CSUN won the set going away.
Taking control.
— CSUN Women's Volleyball (@csunwomensvb) October 18, 2024
CSUN wins the second set convincingly and is looking for the sweep in the third.#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/6z35VS0ZVL
SET 3: CSUN 25, UCR 22
The Matadors would trail by as many as three points in the final set before kills by Iye Okolo and Smith kill gave CSUN its first lead at 16-15. Another Smith kill and an Okolo solo block extended the CSUN lead to 18-15. The Matadors would see their lead cut to one on three different occasions down the stretch, the last at 22-21, before kills by Miller and Smith and a solo block by Okolo capped a 25-22 win.
All CSUN. All night long.
— CSUN Women's Volleyball (@csunwomensvb) October 18, 2024
It's a road sweep as the Matadors beat UC Riverside 25-22, 25-14, 25-22.#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/kwtLvu0XSq
NOTES
- Okolo added seven kills on eight swings to hit .714 along with three blocks.
- With the win, CSUN improves to 64-23 all-time against UC Riverside.
- The Highlanders see their record slip to 5-15 overall and 0-7 in the Big West.
HEAD COACH AQUILES MONTOYA SAID
"Great win for us to get back into the win column in Big West play. We focused this week on trying to limit our unforced errors, and although we had our share of them still, we were being aggressive and barely missing opportunities. I'm proud of our team for keeping the leads we got when UCR came storming back with their home crowd behind them."
UP NEXT
CSUN returns home Saturday to host UC Davis in a Big West match at Premier America Credit Union Arena. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m. and the match will stream on ESPN+.
#GoMatadors
