Matadors Fall in Straight Sets at No. 8 Hawai'i

Friday, October 9

Manoa, Hawai'i

10:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

4-13, 3-2BWC

Hawai''i

15-1, 5-0BWC

Team	1	2	3	Final F
CSUN	19	16	16	0
Hawai'i	25	25	25	3

Photo by: Laura Pierson

Matadors Fall in Straight Sets at No. 8 Hawai'i

10/9/2015 10:28:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

NORTHRIDGE, CA - After opening conference play with three consecutive wins, the CSUN women's volleyball team dropped its second straight Friday as the eighth-ranked Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine swept the visiting Matadors 25-19, 25-16, 25-16 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Senior Cieana Stinson and freshman Aeryn Owens each had nine kills to lead the Matadors who slipped to 4-13 overall and 3-2 in the Big West. The Rainbow Wahine improve to 15-1 overall and remain unbeaten in conference play at 5-0.

Stinson hit .280 on 25 swings while Owens hit .273 on 22 attacks. Redshirt freshman Nada Dragovic added five kills and seven digs but the CSUN offense was stymied for the second straight match. After hitting well over .300 in their first three conference wins, the Matadors hit .142 in a 3-0 loss to Cal Poly and were held to a .102 clip by Hawai'i on Friday.

Setters Maddie Leiphardt and Erin Indermill combined for 25 assists while Leiphardt and Dragovic led the team with seven digs apiece.

Dragovic's kill opened the match before the hosts rolled off five six consecutive points. Back-to-back kills from Owens capped a 9-4 CSUN run that put the Matadors back on top 13-12. After Leiphardt's kill from the setter spot kept CSUN close at 16-15, the Rainbow Wahine answered with five straight points to open up a six-point cushion (21-15). A late Stinson kill kept the Matadors within four at 22-18, but Hawai'i tallied the three of the final four points to take the opening frame 25-19.

The two teams traded sideouts until Stinson's kill put the Matadors on top 9-8. But the hosts answered with a 5-0 run forcing CSUN into a timeout trailing 13-9. The Rainbow Wahine run stretched to 9-1 as Hawai'i took control of the set 18-10. Following the Matadors' second timeout, the hosts stretched the lead to 10 (21-11) and CSUN could only get within seven the rest of the way.

Needing to win out to gain their first ever win in O'ahu, the Matadors quickly fell behind 6-1 in set three and could not recover. CSUN crept within four points at 8-4 and again at 9-5 when Hawai'i took control. An 8-4 run extended the Rainbow Wahine lead to 17-9 before the Matadors put together a late rally. A 4-0 run, capped by a Jess Hess ace, trimmed a 19-11 Hawai'i lead to 19-15 forcing the hosts to use a timeout. Leading 24-16, Hawai'i cashed in its first match point when Serna Arreola's attack found the net.

Nikki Taylor led Hawai'i with 14 kills (.393) while Tai Manu-Olevao added 10 (.318).

CSUN wraps up its four-match road trip next Saturday as the Matadors travel to the Walter Pyramid to take on Long Beach State at 7. The match will be televised by FOX Sports Prime Ticket.

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