Sept. 20, 2008

Final Stats

MALIBU, Calif. - Sophomore Siara Grayson knocked down a team-high 12 kills and junior Angela Hupp added nine kills but Cal State Northridge could not get its offense on track as the Matadors fell to No. 21 Pepperdine 25-15, 25-16, 25-15 Saturday morning at the Pepperdine Asics Classic at Firestone Fieldhouse.

Northridge (5-7), which dropped a tough five-set decision to Texas State on Friday, winds up 0-2 in the tournament and has dropped four straight overall. Pepperdine remains unbeaten this season at 11-0.

Grayson's .194 hitting percentage was enough to lead the Matadors as she had 12 kills and six errors in 31 attacks. Hupp hit .036 but added 10 digs and one block. Sophomore Lynda Morales added four kills (.167) and Brittany Williams chipped in three kills but struggled to a -.375 hitting clip. Junior Tela Burnett added two kills and a pair of blocks, while Sam Orlandini posted 25 assists and eight digs.

As a team, the Matadors struggled to a team hitting percentage of .017 (32-30-115) while the Waves hit .296 (38-9-98).

Pepperdine jumped out to a 9-4 lead in set one and never looked back. The Matadors closed the gap to five on a pair of occasions, the last at 14-9, before the Waves outscored Northridge 8-4 over the next 12 points to take a 22-13 lead. With Pepperdine up 23-15, Williams was blocked by Kim Hill and Rachel Lumsden and a subsequent kill from Hill ended the set 25-15.

Pepperdine did not let up in set two as the Waves again took an early lead, this time 7-2 forcing a Northridge timeout. After the Matadors closed the gap to 8-5 on a Kiah Friers hitting error, Pepperdine put together a 7-1 run to extend the lead to 15-6 forcing the Matadors into their second timeout. Burnett's solo block on Cassi Chamberlain pulled Northridge within five at 21-16 but the Matadors would not score again the rest of set two as the Waves took a commanding two-set lead with the 25-16 win.

The final set was the much of the same as Pepperdine raced out to an 11-3 lead. A Chamberlain kill put the Waves up 15-5 forcing the Matadors into a timeout. Northridge would eventually get within six at 21-15 following a Lumsden service error but the Matadors again went scoreless over the final four points and Pepperdine had a three-set victory.

Julie Rubenstein led the Waves with 10 kills (.320) while Lumsden, Chamberlain and Hill each added six kills apiece. Hill also added seven blocks as Pepperdine posted a 15.0 to 3.0 advantage in team blocks.

Cal State Northridge returns home next week to open Big West Conference play on Friday, Sept. 26 against UC Santa Barbara at 7 p.m.

- GO MATADORS -