The women’s volleyball team, energized by their win against UC Santa Barbara last week, hits the road to take on UC Riverside on Friday and UC Irvine on Saturday.

The Matadors are just 2-7 on the road this season and hold a record of 8-14 overall, with 5-5 in conference action.

UC Riverside is just 1-7 in conference play, but head coach Jeff Stork doesn’t take the Highlanders lightly, according to the athletic department’s weekly volleyball release.

“Riverside is trying to find a way to get some wins and they’ve created some opportunities to do that,” Stork said. “But, we haven’t shown the consistency to say we can win any match.”

CSUN leads the overall series against the Highlanders 39-16 and is 12-6 at Riverside. The Matadors have won their last three matches against the Highlanders, with the most recent being a sweep at the Matadome on Sept. 29. That match resulted in season highs for three-game matches in kills (57), attack percentage (.400), assists (52) and aces (7).

Riverside has a .181 hitting percentage for the season and senior Angie Mitchell leads the Highlanders’ offense with an average of 2.90 kills per game, followed by sophomore Dominique Cowling with 2.62 kills per game. Brittney Murray leads the team in assists with a 10.34 per game average.

The Matadors also lead the overall series record against UC Irvine, however, CSUN lost its last match to the Anteaters 3-1 on Sept. 28. During that match the Matadors had six aces and 145 blocks, both season-highs for four-game matches.

The Anteaters currently sit at third in the Big West, with a 16-7 overall record and 6-2 in conference play. Freshman Kari Pestolesi leads the offense with a 3.89 kills per game average and junior Lauren Kellerman follows with 3.80. As a team, Irvine has a .240 hitting percentage. Sophomore Taryn Robertson leads the team in assists with 12.17 per game.

Sophomore Angela Hupp scored two triple-doubles last weekend, bringing her to four on the season. Hupp who leads the Big West in triple doubles, was just one block short of a quadruple-double. Hupp also leads the team in double-doubles with seven for the season.

Junior setter Kayla Wright had 51 assists last week, moving her into fourth place on the all-time career assists list. Junior middle blocker Val Kepler leads the team in hitting percentage at .296. Freshmen Brittany Williams and Alex Johnson lead the team in average kills per game with 2.63 and 2.40, respectively.

As a team, the Matadors have a .190 hitting percentage, averaging 13.92 kills per game. CSUN is third in the conference in blocking, averaging 2.59 per game.

Stork’s comments in this week’s volleyball release underscore the importance of this weekend’ matches.

“Both matches this weekend are crucial to see where we’ll wind up in the Big West,” Stork said. “We have to start beating the teams that are above us in the standings. We also need wins to get above the .500 mark for the season.”

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