California State University at Northridge
10-18,5-12Big West
UC San Diego
16-12,10-7Big West
CSUN Knocks Off UC San Diego With Road Sweep in La Jolla
11/22/2024 8:14:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
LA JOLLA, Calif. – Amaris Smith pounded a match-high 14 kills and the CSUN women's volleyball team put up 12 blocks as the Matadors knocked off UC San Diego in straight sets in a Big West match Friday night at LionTree Arena.
Set scores were 26-24, 25-19, 26-24, as the Matadors improve to 10-18 overall and 5-12 in the Big West.
Smith was the lone hitter in double figures as she connected for 14 kills on 52 swings to hit .135. She also matched her season-high with five blocks to go with two digs and two aces. Iye Okolo added nine kills, hitting an impressive .412 on 17 attacks to go with three blocks while Leah Miller chipped in eight kills (.167) and two blocks.
In posting its best blocking effort since recording a season-high 15 total blocks at UC Irvine on Oct. 5, CSUN put up 12 team blocks while limiting the Tritons to a .117 team hitting clip. Tatiana Turgeon led all players with a career-high nine total blocks, including a pair of solo stuffs. CSUN setter Katie Kolar recorded her 17th double-double and ninth in her last 11 matches with 34 assists and 13 digs, while the Big West leader in digs, Paige Sentes, added 22 digs and two aces in the win.
The Matadors wound up hitting .183 (43-20-126) to UCSD's .117 clip while recording 56 team digs to the Tritons' 50.
SET 1: CSUN 26, UCSD 24
Leading 5-3 early on, the Matadors used a 6-2 run, capped by a Julia Bazylevych kill, to open up an 11-6 lead. CSUN would maintain a five-point cushion at 15-10 before a 4-3 scoring run gave the Matadors their largest lead of the set at 19-13. The Tritons would answer with four straight points to trim the margin to two (21-19) before ultimately tying the score at 21-21 forcing a CSUN timeout. A Turgeon-Bazylevych block put the Matadors back up 23-21 before UCSD again rallied back to tie the score at 23-23. CSUN would outscore the hosts 3-1 over the final points to seal the 26-24 win on a UCSD hitting error.
S1 l Matadors close the opening set on a 3-0 run as a UCSD hitting error gives #CSUN a 26-24 win#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/qFoV8jeRlr
— CSUN Women's Volleyball (@csunwomensvb) November 23, 2024
SET 2: CSUN 25, UCSD 19
The Matadors would hit a match-high .220 as Smith connected for eight kills in set two alone. The Tritons took an early 7-4 lead before CSUN used a 6-0 run to open up a 10-7 advantage on the strength of Sentes' serving. Consecutive co-blocks by Miller and Turgeon highlighted a 6-2 run as the Matadors extended the lead to 16-9. CSUN would lead by as many as seven before the Tritons staged a late rally to pull within three (22-19) when a Smith kill, a Smith-Turgeon block, and a Triton hitting error sent the Matadors to the 25-19 win.
S2 l Another big block gives #CSUN set point and the Matadors cash it in on a UCSD hitting error
— CSUN Women's Volleyball (@csunwomensvb) November 23, 2024
Matadors up 2 sets in La Jolla#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/9m9R1uIytj
SET 3: CSUN 26, UCSD 24
The final set featured 13 ties as the lead changed hands three times. CSUN overcame an early 4-1 UCSD lead as a Kolar kill gave the Matadors their first lead at 8-7. Another kill by Kolar opened a 9-7 advantage before UCSD answered with an 8-5 scoring run to take a 15-14 lead into the media timeout. The Tritons maintained a one-point lead at 17-16 lead when the Matadors engineered a 5-2 run, capped by another Bazylevych kill, to lead by two at 21-19. The Tritons again rallied back to tie the score at 23-23 and 24-24 when a UCSD service error and Smith's 14th kill of the match gave CSUN the 26-24 win.
Final from La Jolla#CSUN snaps a 7-match skid to the Tritons with a 3-0 road sweep!#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/KCbIlGGRhN
— CSUN Women's Volleyball (@csunwomensvb) November 23, 2024
NOTES
- The victory gives the Matadors 10 wins this season, the first CSUN team to reach double figures in wins since 2019.
- The win for CSUN snaps a seven-match skid to UC San Diego, improving to 11-7 all-time against the Tritons.
- The loss drops UCSD to 16-12 overall and 10-7 in the Big West.
HEAD COACH AQUILES MONTOYA SAID
"The big theme for us this week was to be a thermostat and not a thermometer. We agreed to no longer be a victim of the circumstances and take ownership of what we could control to find a way to win. UCSD would not go away, and for them to come back when we had big leads was nerve-wracking, but I'm proud of our team for hanging in there and finishing at the end.
"Defensively, it had to be our best match, while Paige (Sentes) held it down with 23 digs in 3 sets, for our blockers to get 12 blocks in 3 sets means that we were disciplined and strong across the net against one of the bigger and more physical teams in the Big West. Long Beach State will be a tough environment so we're excited to rest and regroup for another tough battle in the Pyramid tomorrow."
UP NEXT
CSUN concludes the 2024 season on Saturday as the Matadors travel to the Walter Pyramid to take on Long Beach State for a 7 p.m. first serve.
#GoMatadors
