California State University at Northridge
3-5,0-0Big West
California Baptist
0-10,0-0WAC
CSUN Sweeps CBU, 25-19, 25-19, 25-19 in Home Opener
9/17/2024 8:01:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – Hailey Brockway and Leah Miller combined for 29 kills as the CSUN women's volleyball claimed its 2024 home opener in straight sets over visiting California Baptist on Tuesday night at Premier America Credit Union Arena.
The Matadors won their third consecutive home opener by set scores of 25-19, 25-19, 25-19 to improve to 3-5 on the season. The Lancers drop to 0-10 with the loss.
Brockway led all hitters in the match with 15 kills, hitting .281 on 32 swings. She also contributed eight digs, two aces, and one ace. Miller added 14 kills on 29 attacks to hit .379 while adding nine digs and the first two aces of her CSUN career. Katie Kolar posted 35 assists, eight digs, and six kills while Paige Sentes and Autum Rojelio both had double figures in digs with 14 and 10 respectively.
CSUN hit .268 (46-16-112) as a team while limiting CBU to a .153 clip. Behind Sentes and Rojelio, the Matadors posted a 51-42 edge in team digs while the Lancers had a slight 8-6 lead in team blocks.
SET 1: CSUN 25, CBU 19
With the score tied 4-4 early in set one, a Sentes ace opened up a 4-0 CSUN run that forced a Lancer timeout. The more Matador points out of the timeout, capped by a Brockway kill, opened up an 11-4 lead. Still trailing by five (19-14), CBU put together a 4-1 run to pull within 20-18 forcing a CSUN timeout. But three kills from Miller down the stretch clinched a 25-19 Matador win.
SET WON.
— CSUN Women's Volleyball (@csunwomensvb) September 18, 2024
Leah Miller scores the last four for the home team and CSUN takes the opening frame, 25-19.#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/hffSGaoWgg
SET 2: CSUN 25, CBU 19
The teams battled to a 14-14 in set two before another Miller kill and a Sentes ace gave CSUN a two-point edge. Leading by one at 19-18, a Brockway kill and a CBU hitting error forced a Lancer timeout. Another kill by Brockway coming out of the timeout boosted the lead to 22-18 before the Matadors got a co-block from Miller and Iye Okolo on set point.
Different set. Same score.
— CSUN Women's Volleyball (@csunwomensvb) September 18, 2024
CSUN is up 2-0 after a 25-19 victory!#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/F4XsqO1Sbf
SET 3: CSUN 25, CBU 19
The visitors led by three (7-4) early in the final set before CSUN used a 6-2 run to take its first lead at 10-9. After CBU tied the score at 10-10, the Matadors used an Okolo kill, a Brockway ace, and an Okolo-Amaris Smith block to lead by three at 13-10. The Lancers remained within one at 15-14 when the Matadors would outscore CBU 10-5 down the stretch to seal a third 25-19 decision.
25-19.
— CSUN Women's Volleyball (@csunwomensvb) September 18, 2024
25-19.
25-19.
Consistent W in the home opener!#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/PHHzRHBNLD
NOTES
- Okolo wound up with four kills on six swings to match Kolar with a .500 hitting clip.
- Rojelio's 10 digs were one off her season high of 11 set at Idaho State.
- With the win, CSUN improved to 22-22 all-time in home openers dating back to 1976.
ACCORDING TO HEAD COACH AQUILES MONTOYA
"Really excited to get back in the win column after some frustrating losses the last couple weeks. Obviously playing in front of our home crowd was exhilarating for our young team and they used that energy. The biggest thing for us, as the match went on we kept sharpening up what we were doing. In previous matches, one skill wasn't going well and it started bleeding into the other. We played together which has been a little bit of a struggle for ours and it was really fun to watch us compete."
UP NEXT
CSUN continues its season-long, six-match homestand on Thursday, hosting Washington State at 6 p.m.
#GoMatadors
