Oct. 24, 2008

Final Stats

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - After posting its first Big West win over Pacific on Saturday, Cal State Northridge had trouble getting on track offensively as the Matadors opened their two-match road trip with a 25-12, 25-18, 25-15 loss at Cal Poly on Friday at Mott Gym.

Northridge drops to 6-16 overall and 1-8 in the Big West with the loss while the first-place Mustangs improve to 12-7 overall and 7-1 in conference play.

On a tough night for Northridge's hitters, sophomore Siara Grayson led the Matadors with seven kills but hit just .043. Grayson also matched Angela Hupp and Kayla Wright for the team-high in digs with seven. Hupp added six kills (.158), Tela Burnett chipped in four (.100) and Brittany Williams had two (-.175). No Matador hitter was able to post a hitting percentage higher than Hupp's .158 as Northridge hit -.023 as a team. Lynda Morales did manage a match-high seven total blocks for the Matadors in the loss.

Cal Poly didn't exactly light up their side of the stat sheet either as the Mustangs hit .126 with 32 kills and 21 errors in 87 swings. Cal Poly helped itself by out-serving Northridge 12 aces to zero.

In the first set, the Mustangs used a 5-0 run to break open an early 3-3 tie. Following a Matador timeout, Grayson put down a kill to pull the Matadors within four at 8-4. But another four-point Cal Poly run opened up a 12-4 lead. The Mustangs matched their largest lead of the set after a Hupp attack error gave Cal Poly a 14-point lead at 23-8. Northridge scored four of the next six points before a Wright service error closed the set at 25-12.

A Hupp-Burnett co-block gave the Matadors an early 4-2 lead in set two before Cal Poly answered with a four-point run to take back the lead at 6-4. Northridge managed to pull within one at 6-5 and 7-6 before a 5-0 Mustang run opened up a 12-6 lead. The Matadors were able to pull within five at 22-17 after a Kylie Atherstone hitting error but were not able to get any closer down the stretch.

The Mustangs jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the third set and never looked back. After the Matadors cut the deficit to 4-2, Cal Poly scored three straight capped by a Williams hitting error to open up a 7-2 lead. Another Williams miscue gave the Mustangs a 10-point cushion at 13-3 and the Matadors battled to overcome a double-digit deficit for the remainder of the set. An Ali Waller kill finished off the 25-15 set three win.

Atherstone led the Mustangs with 12 kills (.304) while Waller added eight kills (.263), four aces and three blocks. Hailey Fithian posted a match-high 12 digs for the Mustangs in the win.

Cal State Northridge wraps up its two-match road trip on Saturday at UC Santa Barbara. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.

- GO MATADORS -