Oct. 21, 2008

Weekly Match Notes in PDF Format

MATADORS HEAD BACK ON THE ROAD FOR MATCHES AT CAL POLY, UC SANTA BARBARA Cal State Northridge (6-15, 1-7 Big West), coming off its first home win of the 2008 season, heads out on the road for a brief two-match trip this week as the Matadors head to first-place Cal Poly (11-7, 6-1) on Friday and UC Santa Barbara (8-0, 4-3) on Saturday. Both matches begin at 7 p.m. Northridge, which snapped a season-long, 12-match skid with a 3-1 win over Pacific on Saturday, is 5-9 on the road this season. The Matadors trail 21-20 in the all-time series with Cal Poly and trail 23-5 in the all-time series with UC Santa Barbara.

NORTHRIDGE ON THE NET Saturday's match at UC Santa Barbara will be available via Gametracker (GoMatadors.com) and both matches this week will be available 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 TOP PACIFIC FOR FIRST BIG WEST WIN The Matadors broke into the win column in Big West play with a 26-24, 27-25, 18-25, 27-25 win over Pacific on Saturday that not only snapped a 12-match losing streak but also gave Northridge its first home win of the 2008 season. Junior Angela Hupp knocked down a team-high 16 kills to lead a trio of Northridge hitters in double figures. Hupp hit .270 and also added 16 assists and eight digs. Siara Grayson added 12 kills (.229) five digs and two blocks and Brittany Williams chipped in 11 kills (.269) and four blocks. The Matadors also got important contributions from senior Kayla Wright, who posted a team-high 37 assists, seven kills and eight digs, and junior Tela Burnett who five kills, four digs and eight total blocks in the win.

WILLIAMS PUTS HITTING WOES BEHIND HER After struggling to a negative hitting percentage in three of her four previous matches, sophomore outside hitter Brittany Williams had two solid outings as the Matadors split two matches last week. Williams had eight kills and three errors in 17 swings for a .294 clip against UC Davis on Friday and had 11 kills and four errors in 26 swings for a .269 clip in Saturday's win over Pacific. Williams, who posted double figures in kills in seven on Northridge's first 11 matches this season, had reached double figures just once in the past nine matches before Saturday's 11-kill effort. For the season, the sophomore from Chino Hills ranks second on the Matadors with 187 kills (2.49 k/s) after totaling 276 kills (2.76 k/s) as a freshman in 2007.

MATADORS NAIL DOWN FIRST HOME, BIG WEST WIN Saturday's win over Pacific not only put an end to the Matadors' 12-match losing streak but also gave Northridge its first Big West win as well as first home win of the 2008 season. The win also marked Northridge's first win in the month of October where the Matadors had dropped its first five matches. With three matches left in the month the Matadors can still finish strong with the final match coming on Halloween night at home against UC Riverside. The Pacific win also ended a string of three consecutive three-set sweeps for Northridge which is now 2-2 this season in four-set matches.

BIG WEST MIDSEASON REPORT With a tough first half in the books, the Matadors head into the second half of conference play this week at Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara. At 1-7 Northridge is bringing up the rear in the conference standings but the Matadors are just 3.5 games out of fourth place with eight Big West matches remaining. Big West front-running Cal Poly (6-1) currently has a one-game lead on second-place Long Beach State (5-2) with Pacific in third (5-3). This week marks the first week of the 2008 season that no Big West team was represented in the AVCA Top 25 poll. Northridge would need to win all nine of its remaining matches to reach the .500 mark for the season.

MATADORS LOOK FOR HITTING IMPROVEMENT After hitting a near season-high .283 against Pacific on Saturday, the Matadors upped their season team hitting percentage to .166. Since hitting a season-high .333 against Sacramento State on Sept. 5, Northridge went 16 matches without hitting higher than .223 as a team. The Matadors still only have two hitters, middles Lynda Morales (.254) and Val Kepler (.251), hitting .200 or better. In Jeff Stork's seven seasons, the lowest a Matador team has hit is .170 in 2005.

WRIGHT, BURNETT PROVIDE A BOOST Senior setter Kayla Wright had not appeared in 13 of the Matadors' matches this season and junior Tela Burnett has played sparingly in the 15 matches she has appeared. But both were called on last weekend and each made a huge contribution. Wright, who came into her senior season with 2,240 career assists, became the backup setter after the emergence of freshman Sam Orlandini during the early portion of the season. On Saturday, Wright found herself in the starting lineup for just the third time this season and responded with a team-high 37 assists, seven kills (in eight attacks), eight digs and one block. She also helped set the Matadors to a .283 hitting percentage, the team's highest in over a month. Burnett, who had five kills in six swings against Pacific, found herself as one of Northridge's go-to hitters in the final set. Burnett also posted a career-high eight block assists, many coming on crucial points during the Matador win.

NORTHRIDGE NOTES Sophomore Siara Grayson, who ranked as high as third in the Big West in aces on Sept. 29, has just one service ace in her last six matches. Grayson served up 24 aces in the Matadors' first 15 matches but has since slipped to seventh in the conference averaging 0.32 aces/set ... Junior Angela Hupp posted her fifth double-double against Pacific to match Orlandini for team-high honors. With 16 kills and 16 assists in the Northridge win, Hupp now has 22 double-double's in her Matador career. Wright is the current team leader with 30 ... Hupp was nominated for Big West Player of the Week but lost out to UC Irvine's Lauren Kellerman. Northridge has now gone 31 weeks over the last two-plus seasons without having a player selected conference Player of the Week. The last was Harmony Burdine on Sept 25, 2006.

SCOUTING CAL POLY The Mustangs (11-7, 6-1 Big West) host the Matadors on Friday before entertaining Cal State Fullerton on Saturday. Cal Poly has won six of its first seven Big West matches to move into first place by one match over Long Beach State. Senior OH Kylie Atherstone leads the Mustangs and ranks third in the Big West with 254 kills (3.68 kps) while fellow senior Ali Waller adds 2.83 k/s ... Head coach Jon Stevenson (UC Santa Barbara, 1980) is in his fourth season with the Mustangs and sports a 76-27 record. Overall, Stevenson is 159-94 in nine seasons.

SCOUTING UC SANTA BARBARA The Gauchos (8-10, 4-3 Big West), who host Cal State Fullerton on Friday and Northridge on Saturday, split a pair of matches last week falling at Cal Poly (3-0) before winning 3-0 at UC Riverside. Senior OH Lauren McLaughlin leads UCSB averaging 3.36 k/s which ranks eighth in the Big West. Sophomore OH Charlene DeHoog chips in 199 kills while averaging 3.06 k/s. The Gauchos are hitting .197 as a team. Head coach Kathy Gregory (Cal State Los Angeles, 1968) is in her 34th season at UCSB and owns a 806-356 career and school record.

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