Sept. 24, 2008

Weekly Match Notes in PDF Format

MATADORS RETURN HOME TO HOST UCSB, NO. 25 CAL POLY AS BIG WEST PLAY BEGINS Cal State Northridge (5-7, 0-0 Big West) returns to The Matadome to open Big West Conference action this week as the Matadors host UC Santa Barbara (4-7, 0-0) on Friday and No. 25 Cal Poly (5-6, 0-0) on Saturday. Northridge is looking to snap a four-match skid as the Matadors open the three-match homestand which concludes next Tuesday, Sept. 30 against Cal State Bakersfield.

NORTHRIDGE ON THE NET Both matches this week will also be available via Gametracker (GoMatadors.com) and via live video streaming at BigWest.TV. Get exclusive coverage of Big West Conference action by logging on to BigWest.TV! Now in it's fourth year, BigWest.TV gives fans on-demand access to Big West sports as well as press conferences, features and Big West Conference Championships. If you can't make it to the gym or the field, head to www.BigWest.TV to catch up on your favorite team!

MATADORS DROP A PAIR AT PEPPERDINE ASICS CLASSIC Sophomore Brittany Williams pounded a match-high 17 kills and three other Northridge hitters reached double figures but the Matadors came up short in five sets (25-15, 25-27, 24-26, 23-25, 11-15) to Texas State in the opener of the Pepperdine Asics Classic last Friday. Lynda Morales was effective in the middle as the sophomore added 14 kills (.462) while Siara Grayson (.222) and Angela Hupp (.167) also chipped in 14 kills apiece. Then on Saturday, 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. 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. Morales added four kills (.167) and Williams chipped in three kills.

MATADORS LOOK FOR CONTINUED SUCCESS AS BIG WEST SEASON OPENS The Matadors carry a record of 18-6 (.750) in conference openers into Friday's match with the Gauchos of UC Santa Barbara. The conference-opening homestand continues on Saturday against No. 25 Cal Poly and Cal State Bakersfield next Tuesday (Sept. 30). Northridge has had success in Big West openers under head coach Jeff Stork where the Matadors are 4-2 and have won their last four conference openers. Last season, Northridge defeated UCSB on the road in both teams' conference opener. The five-set win was the Matadors' first in Santa Barbara since the 1992 season. In seven Big West seasons, Northridge is 4-3 (.571) in conference openers and 2-2 (.500) in Big West openers at home.

"The home crowd is always important," said Stork. "We played pretty well against a very good team in UCLA in our home opener. We were in the match and I think some of that has to do with the home court and the great crowd that day. We're hoping again that the students will support our program."

GRAYSON EARNS ALL-TOURNAMENT AT PEPPERDINE Outside hitter Siara Grayson was the lone Northridge representative on the 2008 Pepperdine Asics Classic All-Tournament Team. The sophomore from Sandy, Utah had 14 kills while hitting .222 to go with two aces and nine digs in the Matadors' five-set loss to Texas State and came back with a match-high 12 kills (.194) and two digs against Pepperdine.

"Siara was good last weekend," said Stork. "I think she was fresh not having practiced a couple of times during the week."

This was the first time in four tournaments this season that junior Angela Hupp was not named to an all-tournament team. Sophomore Lynda Morales also picked up Sacramento State Invitational All-Tournament accolades as did senior Kelley Hanson at the season-opening Bronco Invitational.

NON-CONFERENCE WRAP-UP Last weekend's tournament wrapped up the non-conference portion of the 2008 schedule (with the exception of a pair of matches with Cal State Bakersfield) which saw the Matadors victorious in five of 12 matches. That record easily could have been 7-5 had a couple of points gone Northridge's way. In particular, the Matadors dropped tough five-set matches to Washington State and Texas State but also defeated San Jose State in five after being down 8-1 in the final set.

"I thought (the non-conference schedule) was a good schedule for us," said Stork. "If you want things back I think I'd like the Washington State match back and I'd like Texas State back. When you're winning and losing by deuce games and you look at points scored, it ultimately comes down to one play. You look at serving, you look at one defensive play or one errant attack that wasn't real smart."

"The bottom line is we need to pass better," added Stork. "If you look at the numbers against Texas State they handled us pretty well but we had chances to win the match. We had opportunities to win that match in four."

MATADORS LOOK TO GET BACK ON THE BLOCK Over the two seasons, Northridge established itself as one of the best blocking teams in the Big West Conference. Last season, the Matadors were the conference's second-best blocking team behind Big West champions Cal Poly and were also in the top five in 2006. This season, Northridge ranks fifth in the conference but is being out-blocked by a margin of 132.5 to 81.0 or an average of 2.41 to 1.47 blocks/set.

NORTHRIDGE NOTES Over the last six matches, where the Matadors are 1-5, Northridge has dropped 15 of its last 20 sets. The Matadors took a three-set win over Montana and took two sets from Texas State but were blanked in the other four matches ... No. 25 Cal Poly will be the third ranked team the Matadors have faced in their last five matches. So far Northridge is 0-2 against teams ranked in the CBS College Sports/AVCA Top 25 ... Freshman setter Sam Orlandini took over the team lead in double-doubles with her third against Texas State on Friday. Orlandini's 55 assists, also against the Bobcats, was her collegiate career-high ... After 12 matches, the Matadors have the exact same kills total as their opponents. In 55 sets, Northridge has 517 kills (9.40 kills/set) but has committed 63 more hitting errors than the opponents. The Matadors have also taken nearly 100 more swings (1475-1381) and are hitting .159 as a team to .219 for their opponents ... Jeff Stork opens his seventh Big West season with a career conference record of 44-54 (.449).

SCOUTING UC SANTA BARBARA The Gauchos (4-7) travel to Northridge on Friday followed by a visit to Fullerton on Saturday ... UCSB snapped a five-match losing skid with a 3-0 win over Texas State last Saturday at Pepperdine ... The Gauchos opened the season 3-2 ... Sophomore OH Charlene DeHoog leads UCSB averaging 3.14 kps while senior OH Lauren McLaughlin averages 2.83 k/s ... The Gauchos are hitting .198 as a team ... Head coach Kathy Gregory (Cal State Los Angeles, 1968) is in her 34th season with the Gauchos and sports a 802-353 career and school record.

SCOUTING CAL POLY The 25th-ranked Mustangs (5-6) head to Cal State Fullerton on Friday before traveling to Northridge on Saturday ... Cal Poly has dropped four straight matches, including losses to No. 11 Minnesota, No. 4 California and No. 6 Stanford ... Senior OH Kylie Atherstone leads the Mustangs averaging 3.73 k/s while also contributing 2.84 digs/set ... Junior setter Hailey Fithian averages 10.57 assists/set ... Head coach Jon Stevenson (UCSB, 1980) is in his fourth season at Cal Poly and owns a 70-26 school record ... overall he is 153-93 in his ninth season.

- GO MATADORS -