California State University at Northridge
2-4,0-0Big West
New Mexico State
2-3,0-0CUSA
CSUN Drops Sac State Invitational Finale to Aggies in Four Sets
9/7/2024 2:31:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The CSUN women's volleyball took the opening set before New Mexico State came back to claim the final three sets to defeat the Matadors, 3-1 in the Sacramento State Invitational finale for both teams Saturday afternoon at The Nest.
CSUN (2-4) finishes the tournament with a 1-2 mark after the Aggies won by set scores of 23-25, 25-13, 27-25, 25-16.
Hailey Brockway was the only Matador in double figures as she led all hitters in the match with 16 kills. Brockway hit .128 on 47 swings to go with 11 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. Junior Leah Miller added nine kills (.182) while Amaris Smith chipped in eight kills and four digs. Setter Katie Kolar had 31 assists and narrowly missed her fifth double-double of the season with nine digs.
All-Tournament Team selection Paige Sentes had 19 digs and five assists against the Aggies, finishing the tournament with 67 digs in three matches.
New Mexico State out-hit the Matadors .250 (54-19-140) to .062 (40-31-144) and also had a sizable 14-5 advantage in team blocks. The Aggies also posted slight edges in team digs (67-60) and aces (6-5) in the win.
SET 1: CSUN 25, NMSU 23
CSUN got off to a good start despite hitting .139 as a team in set one. Behind Kolar's serving, the Matadors jumped out to a 5-1 advantage and would hold the lead until the Aggies took advantage of a CSUN hitting error to take their first lead at 12-11. New Mexico State led by as many as two (15-13) when a Tatiana Turgeon kill sent the Matadors on a 3-0 run that put CSUN back in front 16-15. The Aggies quickly reclaimed the lead (17-16) when the Matadors rallied to claim the next four points to lead 20-17. Miller's third kill of set would set CSUN up with three set points at 24-21 and after the Aggies saved a pair, Miller connected again sending the Matadors to the 25-23 win.
Leah Miller tools the Aggie block on set point and the Matadors take the opening set, 25-23#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/rne4OTtXRu
— CSUN Women's Volleyball (@csunwomensvb) September 7, 2024
SET 2: NMSU 25, CSUN 13
After a kill by Iye Okolo tied the score at 9-9, New Mexico State outscored CSUN 6-2 over the next eight points to take a 15-11 lead into the media timeout. The Aggies would lead by as many as four points before a Smith kill pulled the Matadors within three at 16-13. That would be as close as CSUN would get as New Mexico State would claim the final nine points of the set.
SET 3: NMSU 27, CSUN 25
In the pivotal third set, the score was tied 13 times as the Matadors overcame an early 4-0 deficit. A kill by Smith pulled CSUN even at 6-6 and neither team would lead by more than two points until Miller's kill put the Matadors up 16-13. New Mexico State quickly tied the score which remained tied at 21-21. CSUN would get a pair of kills from Brockway to take a 23-21 lead when the Aggies scored twice to tie the score again at 23-23. A NMSU service error set the Matadors up with set point when the Aggies got a kill to force extra points. Smith answered with a kill giving CSUN its second set point at 25-24 before the Aggies took advantage of a pair of Matador hitting errors to claim the final three points in a 27-25 win.
SET 4: NMSU 25, CSUN 16
CSUN held an early 8-7 lead in the final set following a Brockway kill before the Aggies claimed six of the next seven points to force a Matador timeout at 13-9. The New Mexico State lead swelled to as many as six at 20-14 before the Aggies pulled away down the stretch for a 25-16 win.
UP NEXT
CSUN has one final non-conference road match next week as the Matadors travel to Riverside on Friday (Sept. 13) to take on Nevada at Van Dyne Gym on the California Baptist campus.
#GoMatadors
