Matadors Travel to Long Beach State, Host Cal State Fullerton in Big West Action This Week - CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

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Matadors Travel to Long Beach State, Host Cal State Fullerton in Big West Action This Week

Northridge Wraps Up Three-Match Road Trip Tuesday at Long Beach Before Returning to The Matadome Saturday

Oct. 7, 2008

MATADORS WRAP UP ROAD TRIP IN LONG BEACH BEFORE HOSTING CAL STATE FULLERTON Cal State Northridge (5-12, 0-4 Big West) wraps up a three-match road trip on Tuesday as the Matadors head to Long Beach State (11-3, 1-1) at 7 p.m. Northridge then returns home to host Cal State Fullerton (8-10, 2-2) Saturday in The Matadome at 7 p.m. The Matadors are looking to end a nine-match losing streak which dates back to Sept. 13 against Arizona State. Northridge is also looking for its first Big West win of the 2008 season as well as its first home victory of the 2008 campaign.

NORTHRIDGE ON THE NET Both matches this week will 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 FALL TO CSU BAKERSFIELD, DROP A PAIR ON CONFERENCE MATCHES ON THE ROAD A tough week for the Matadors opened on Tuesday as Angela Hupp knocked down a team-high 15 kills and Siara Grayson added 13 but Cal State Northridge dropped a 24-26, 25-20, 21-25, 25-17, 15-8 decision to visiting Cal State Bakersfield in a non-conference match. Grayson then had a team-high 10 kills but the Matadors fell 25-18, 25-13, 21-25, 25-12 at UC Irvine Friday at Crawford Court. Grayson hit .222 in 27 swings and junior Angela Hupp added seven kills while hitting .250 but the rest of the Matador hitters get not get on track. The week wrapped up as Hupp added 15 more kills to lead a trio of Northridge hitters in double figures but the Matadors surrendered a two-set lead and suffered their ninth consecutive loss 20-25, 12-25, 25-18, 25-17, 15-5 at UC Riverside on Saturday.

KEPLER MATCHES CAREER BLOCKS MARK; HANSON, HULTNER CLIMB CAREER DIGS LADDER With nine block assists in three matches last week, senior middle blocker Val Kepler moved into a tie for the top spot in Matador history with 382 career block assists in 369 career sets. Ana Kristich, who had 382 block assists in 450 sets from 1991-94, held the record solely for 14 seasons Kepler had 86 block assists as a freshman in 2005, 108 as a sophomore, 139 as a junior and has 49 so far in her senior season. Kepler also took over sole possession of third place in career total blocks with 418. Kristich currently ranks second with 442 while Kathleen Dixon (1987-90) owns the top spot with 449. also moved into sole possession of third place in career total blocks with 418. Another pair of seniors, Kelley Hanson and Amy Hultner continue their climb up the career digs list. Hanson posted 29 digs over three matches last week to boost her career total to 1,144 which ranks fourth in Northridge history. Hultner added 25 digs to her total last week and ranks fifth behind Hanson at 1,140. Nadine Nickel is the current record holder in career digs with 1,268 from 2001-04.

HUPP ADDS ANOTHER DOUBLE-DOUBLE The Matadors are continually seeking that elusive consistency factor. But one player who has provided that of late is junior right side Angela Hupp. Although the Matadors have struggled as a team of late, Hupp has been a model of consistency posting double figures in kills in six of the last nine matches while hitting nearly .240. She also has 91 digs and 23 total blocks over the last nine matches while averaging 2.50 kills/set and 2.61 digs/set over the last four Big West matches. Hupp has also added three double-doubles to her team-leading total of four and now has 21 double-doubles in her two-plus season Matador career.

GRAYSON RANKS AMONG TOP BIG WEST SERVERS Sophomore Siara Grayson continues to ranks among the top servers in the Big West after 17 matches. Having come into her sophomore season with seven career aces, Grayson has already served up 25 aces, the second-highest total in the Big West this season behind Cal Poly's Kyle Atherstone's total of 29. Grayson, who is averaging 1.89 kills/set overall, leads the Matadors in conference play averaging 2.67 kills/set. She is also far and away the team leader in aces with nine in four conference matches. the sophomore from Sandy, Utah also contributed on the defensive end as she posted a career-high 14 digs in Northridge's 3-2 loss to UC Santa Barbara on Sept. 26.

MATADORS LOOK TO ESCAPE BIG WEST CELLAR Not only would a win improve the team's disposition but it would go a long way towards getting the Matadors out of an unfamiliar place, last place in the Big West. In eight seasons as a member of the Big West, Northridge had never dropped its first three conference matches. Now at four, the Matadors would like to end the streak now. Northridge would also like to up its conference statistics as that would most certainly go hand-in-hand with winning. In this week's conference statistics report, Northridge ranks eighth or ninth in half of the team statistical categories. The highest the Matadors rank is third in blocking and service aces.

NORTHRIDGE NOTES The current nine-match skid is Northridge's longest under Jeff Stork and the school's longest since dropping 21 in a row in 1995 ... despite trailing its opponents in virtually every statistical category, the Matadors hold an 89-75 edge in team aces. The biggest deficit Northridge faces is .230-.163 in hitting percentage and 3.02-2.12 in team blocking ... Saturday's five-set loss at UC Riverside dropped the Matadors to 1-5 in five-set matches and Northridge has now lost four straight five-set decisions. The last five-set win came over San Jose State on Sept. 6. Since then, the Matadors have lost in five to Texas State UC Santa Barbara, Cal State Bakersfield and UC Riverside ... Jeff Stork is 2-10 all-time against Long Beach State but reverses that with a 10-2 mark in his career against Fullerton.

CALLING ALL MATADOR ALUMNI!! Calling all Matador Women's Volleyball Alumni! Join your fellow alumni for a social followed by the women's volleyball match against Cal State Fullerton. With your RSVP, you and your family will receive complimentary appetizers, admission to the match, tour of the campus and an opportunity to catch up with fellow alumni. The date of the social is this Saturday, Oct. 11 from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. in The Matadome. For more information contact assistant coach Kiran Mistry at 818-677-7784.

SCOUTING LONG BEACH STATE The 49ers (11-3, 1-1 Big West) host Northridge on Tuesday before hosting No. 25 Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara this weekend. Long Beach opened the conference season with a 3-0 loss at Pacific but bounced back to defeat UC Davis in five. Freshman OH Caitlin Ledoux leads the 49ers with 156 kills (2.94 kps) while senior OH Quincy Verdin adds 151 kills (2.85 k/s) ... Long Beach is hitting .248 as a team ... Head coach Brian Gimmillaro (Long Beach State, 1970) is in his 24th season with the 49ers and sports a 641-151 overall and school record.

SCOUTING CAL STATE FULLERTON The Titans (8-10, 2-2 Big West) travel to Northridge on Saturday for their only match this week. Fullerton won its first two Big West matches last weekend taking care of UC Riverside (3-2) and UC Irvine (3-1). The Titans opened conference season with losses to UCSB and Cal Poly. Senior RS/MB Brittany Moore leads Fullerton averaging 3.29 k/s which ranks seventh in the Big West. Sophomore MB Erin Saddler averages 2.92 k/s while hitting .256. Head coach Carolyn Zimmerman (Pepperdine, 1992) is in her seventh season at Fullerton and owns a 81-114 record.

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	Junior Angela Hupp leads the Matadors against Long Beach State on Tuesday