California State University at Northridge
6-9,1-3Big West
Cal State Fullerton
4-10,0-4Big West
CSUN Defeats Cal State Fullerton in Five Sets for First Big West Win
10/5/2024 9:12:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
FULLERTON, Calif. – Hailey Brockway put down a match-high 19 kills and Julia Bazylevych added 10 kills off the bench as the CSUN women's volleyball team earned its first Big West win, defeating Cal State Fullerton in five sets Saturday at Titan Gym.
After posting 19 kills at UC Irvine on Friday, Brockway equaled that total against the Titans while adding 14 kills for her eighth double-double of the season. Playing the final three sets, Bazylevych provided a spark, connecting for 10 kills on .240 hitting.
Leah Miller added eight kills (.148) and middles Tatiana Turgeon and Iye Okolo combined for 13 kills on 30 attacks to go with nine blocks. Katie Kolar had an impressive all-around match with 53 assists to go with season-highs of 18 digs and six kills.
Four Matadors had double digits in digs, led by Kolar's 18, as Paige Sentes (16), Autumn Rojelio (15), and Brockway (14) helped CSUN to an 81-79 edge in team digs, The Matadors had 85 kills to Fullerton's 58 but the Titans posted a slight edge in team hitting (.218-.200) and had nine aces to CSUN's seven. Each team had 10 team blocks. Rojelio and Taylor Dunlap each had three aces for the Matadors.
S1 l CSUN 25, CSF 19
The Titans opened the match by outscoring CSUN 8-3 over the first 11 points. An ensuing 9-4 run by the Matadors, capped by a Brockway kill, pulled CSUN even at 12-12. CSUN would not take its first lead until Rojelio's ace put the Matadors up 19-18. Amaris Smith connected for a kill following a Titan timeout and CSUN would go on to close the set on 6-1 run to seal the 25-19 win.
S2 l CSF 25, CSUN 23
The Matadors would out-hit the hosts .314 to .297 but dropped the second set, 25-23. Fullerton trailed until Okolo's attack was stuffed putting the hosts in front, 16-15. A Titan hitting error and a Brockway kills gave CSUN an 18-16 lead and the Matadors still led 22-21 when the hosts rallied behind a 4-1 run to take a 25-23 decision.
S3 l CSUN 25, CSF 23
The Matadors would overcome a .375 hitting clip by the Titans to turn the tables in set three. With the score tied at 16-16, a 4-0 run by the hosts opened up a 20-16 lead. Fullerton extended the lead to five (22-17) before a kill by Okolo trimmed the deficit to four at 23-19. Rojelio would then step to the service line and the junior would serve seven straight points as CSUN rallied to notch a 25-23 win and a two sets to one advantage.
S4 l CSF 25, CSUN 18
CSUN was out-hit .333 to .231 as Fullerton rallied to force a fifth set. The Titans opened the set on a 6-0 run and would never trail in a 25-18 win.
S5 l CSUN 15, CSF 11
Neither team led by more than two until a co-block from Kolar and Okolo opened up an 8-5 CSUN lead. The Titans scored three straight to knot the score before a Kolar kill ended the run. A Fullerton hitting error followed by a Brockway kill opened up a three-point lead before the Matadors would seal a 15-11 fifth set win on a kill by Bazylevych.
ACCORDING TO HEAD COACH AQUILES MONTOYA
"We showed some guts tonight after feeling very crummy after the heartbreak of UCI last night. What I loved was digging into our bench and having Julia give us a huge spark when we seemed dull offensively. To see us rally off the 3rd set comeback win as well was impressive, Autumn brought tough serves that allowed our block and defense to get set up in predictable situations. We love winning, and while we are enjoying this one all of us recognized we left a lot of points and plays on the floor that need to be cleaned up. I'm glad they'll get the day off before getting back to work on Monday to prep for our Red Out match against a great Long Beach State team!"
NOTES
- CSUN improves to 4-3 in five-set matches this season.
- With the win, the Matadors improve to 43-15 all-time against Fullerton while claiming their 34th Big West win in 45 matches vs. the Titans.
UP NEXT
CSUN returns home next week to open up a two-match homestand against Long Beach State on Thursday (Oct. 10).
#GoMatadors
