Sept. 27, 2008

Final Stats

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - Northridge sophomore Siara Grayson pounded a match-high 17 kills but 25th-ranked Cal Poly overcame a slow start to win the final three sets of a 14-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-23 Mustang win on Saturday in Big West action at The Matadome.

With the win, Cal Poly improves to 7-6 overall and remains unbeaten in the Big West at 2-0. The loss, the Matadors' fifth straight, drops Northridge to 5-9 overall and 0-2 in conference play.

Grayson's 17 kills and .316 hitting clip led the Matadors who also got 10 kills (.214), eight digs and five blocks from junior Angela Hupp. Grayson also added three aces giving her a team-high 22 this season. Sophomore Brittany Williams came off the bench to add nine kills (.160) while the pair of middle blockers, Lynda Morales and Val Kepler combined for 11 kills and 11 total blocks. Matador setter Sam Orlandini registered 39 assists, seven digs and five blocks in the loss.

Hupp had three kills and a pair of blocks and the entire Matador starting lineup was instrumental in Cal Poly's slow start in set one. Northridge was firing on all cylinders as the team posted 12 kills without an error in 23 swings for a .522 hitting clip. The defense also did its part as Northridge limited the Mustangs to -.037 hitting forcing Cal Poly into eight errors in 27 swings with seven kills. The Matadors never trailed in the set and a Morales kill opened up an 8-3 lead forcing the Mustangs to use a timeout. The Northridge lead swelled to as many as eight (16-8) before back-to-back Cal Poly points cut the lead to 16-10. That was as close as the Mustangs would get in the first set and Grayson closed out the first set with a kill giving the Matadors the 25-14 win.

The momentum turned out to be short-lived as Cal Poly held the lead for virtually the entire second set. The Mustangs took a 10-5 lead on a Hailey Fithian ace before the Matadors scored four unanswered points to cut the lead to one after Orlandini and Morales teamed up to block Ali Waller. The Mustang lead was also one at 13-12 before Hupp and Morales stuffed Jaclyn Houston's attack and Hupp knocked down a kill giving Northridge its one and only lead of the frame at 14-13. Back-to-back kills from Kylie Atherstone gave the Mustangs back the lead for good and another Atherstone kill gave Cal Poly its biggest lead of the set at 24-17. After a Kepler kill, Fithian delivered on set point and the match was even at one set apiece.

The third set featured 13 ties and five lead changes as the teams traded sideouts until 15-15. A Hupp hitting error gave Cal Poly a lead it would never relinquish despite the Matadors tying the score twice more down the stretch. With the score knotted 20-20, the Mustangs used a Houston-Fithian block followed by a Morales attack error, a Houston kill and a Gaby Rivera ace to gain the advantage with the crucial four-point run. A Williams kill and a Lauren Law hitting error pulled Northridge within 24-22 but Waller closed the set with a kill.

In a tightly contested fourth set, the Matadors overcame an early 6-3 deficit to take a three-point lead of their own at 12-9 following a Grayson ace. But back came the Mustangs to knot the score at 13-13 following a Dominique Olowolafe-Rivera block on the Matadors' Tela Burnett. The score was also tied at 14-14 before Cal Poly received an ace from Ashleigh Bertoni, another Houston-Rivera block and a Houston kill to open up a 17-14 cushion. The lead grew to four (18-14) before Morales and Hupp each put down a kill and then the two combined to block Rivera and the Matadors were within one at 18-17. But that was as close as they would get and despite getting within one at 22-21, 23-22 and 24-23, an Atherstone kill at match point ended things in Cal Poly's favor.

Despite hitting just .176, Atherstone led the Mustangs with 13 kills while Houston chipped in nine (.533) and Olowolafe added eight (.571). Cal Poly libero Alison Mort also posted a match-high 15 digs in the win.

Cal State Northridge wraps up its three-match homestand on Tuesday as the Matadors host Cal State Bakersfield in a non-conference match beginning at 7 p.m.

- GO MATADORS -