California State University at Northridge
1-1,0-0Big West
San Diego State
1-1,0-0Mountain West
CSUN Tops San Diego State in Five Sets For Montoya's First Win
8/31/2024 2:58:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
POCATELLO, Idaho – Behind 29 kills from junior Amaris Smith, CSUN head coach Aquiles Montoya picked up his first career win as the Matadors held off San Diego State in five sets Saturday afternoon at the Idaho State Tournament at Reed Gym.
CSUN (1-1) went five sets for the second time in as many matches this season, coming out on top for the first time in topping the Aztecs, 19-25, 25-21, 25-14, 30-32, 15-10.
Smith led all hitters in the match with 29 kills, the most by a CSUN hitter since Cieana Stinson also had 29 against UC Riverside in 2015. Smith hit an impressive .439 on 57 attacks while adding nine digs, two assists, one block, and one ace.
Hailey Brockway also reached double figures with 16 kills (.231) to go with 16 digs for her second consecutive double-double this season. Brockway also added five assists, three blocks, and one ace. Matador setter Katie Kolar notched her second straight double-double with 50 assists and 13 digs while leading the CSUN hitters to a .284 team hitting clip. Libero Paige Sentes also posted double figures in digs with a match-highh 19 while Tatana Turgeon and Iye Okolo combined for 10 kills and 11 blocks in the win.
For the match, the Matadors' hitting clip of .284 is a season-high while San Diego State hit a combined .203. The Aztecs had a slight edge in blocks (12-10) while CSUN served six aces to the Aztecs' four. The Matadors had a 12-dig advantage with 72 as team to 60 for SDSU.
SET 1: SDSU 25, CSUN 19
With the score tied at 9-9 in the opening set, San Diego State rallied to claim six of the next eight points to carry a 15-12 lead into the media timeout. A Turgeon kill and an Aztec hitting error out of the break cut the lead to 15-14 before three straight points by the Aztecs pushed the lead back to four at 18-14. The Matadors would answer with a 4-1 run, capped by a Leah Miller kill, to close to within 19-18. SDSU however would close the set on a 6-1 run to take the set, 25-19.
SET 2: CSUN 25, SDSU 21
The Matadors would answer back in the second set, snapping a 15-15 tie with three straight points, two coming on Brockway kills. The Aztecs would rally back to within 19-18 before kills from Smith and Brockway, along with an SDSU hitting error, gave the Matadors a four-point lead at 22-18. The would turn out to be the final margin as CSUN pulled even with the 25-21 victory.
SET 3: CSUN 25, SDSU 14
The Matadors dominated the third set, out-hitting the Aztecs .400 to .062 in taking a 25-14 win. CSUN raced out to a 6-1 lead and would never trail in the set. Another Smith kill put the Matadors up seven at 11-4 and San Diego State would get no closer the remainder of the set.
SET 4: SDSU 32, CSUN 30
In a marathon third set that featured 17 ties and six lead changes, the Matadors snapped a 23-23 tie by taking advantage of an SDSU service error to take match point at 24-23. The Aztecs saved one match point with a kill before taking three set points at 25-24, 26-25, and 27-26. Another Aztec hitting error gave the Matadors a second match point at 28-27. CSUN was also stymied with match points at 29-28 and 30-29 before the Aztecs completed the comeback by winning the final three points in a 32-30 win.
SET 5: CSUN 15, SDSU 10
With the score tied 2-2 in the deciding set, CSUN put together a 6-2 run, highlighted by a pair of kills from both Smith and Leah Miller, to lead 8-4 at the changeover. The Matadors pushed the lead to five (9-4) on a Smith ace and would lead by as many as six (13-7) following Kolar's ace. The Aztecs trimmed the lead to four on a pair of occasions down the stretch before Smith's 29th kill of the match sent CSUN to the 15-10 win.
And there it is, the first career win for head Aquiles Montoya as the Matadors hold off San Diego State in 5 sets!#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/wnhq76Y2jt
— CSUN Women's Volleyball (@csunwomensvb) August 31, 2024
NOTES
- Autumn Rojelio scooped up five digs while adding two aces and two assists for the Matadors.
- CSUN has now won a series-best three straight over San Diego State but still trails 11-5 in the all-time series.
ACCORDING TO HEAD COACH AQUILES MONTOYA
"I can't express how proud I am of our team for being aggressive against a very physical San Diego State team. Although we weren't perfect, our team trusted each other through every set with our plan. Not many teams can bounce back after losing a tough 32-30 set in the fourth and be dominant in the 5th. Our team showed a lot, but now a tough task to play Idaho State in their gym with their rowdy crowd behind them is what we are already locked in on!"
UP NEXT
CSUN concludes the Idaho State Tournament on Sunday as the Matadors take on the host Bengals inside Reed Gym at 12 p.m. The match will stream on ESPN+.
#GoMatadors
