The CSUN women’s volleyball team got back on the winning track, sweeping the UC Davis Aggies by scores of 30-23, 30-23 and 30-28 Oct. 7 at the Matadome.
“I think the first couple games were good, we had one bad rotation in game three and I’d rather not see that,” head coach Jeff Stork said.
Blocker Darla Donaldson, again backed by a loud cheering section, led the way for the Matadors with 16 kills and outside hitter Harmony Burdine had nine kills and 14 digs.
Britt Erickson led the way for the Aggies with 13 kills and Nicole Read had 10 kills and 10 digs.
“I thought we could’ve done a lot better, but overall, I’m glad that we won in three,” Burdine said.
In game one, CSUN fell behind early 5-3, but won six of the next seven points to lead 9-6, forcing a Davis timeout. Davis responded with a 9-3 run, including four in a row to take a 15-12 lead. Donaldson stopped the run with a kill. Then, after a two-hit violation, Donaldson teamed with setter Angela Hupp on a block and aced on the ensuing serve to bring CSUN to within one. The Matadors finally caught the Aggies at 17, traded the next four points to stay tied and Siara Grayson went off a Davis block to give CSUN a 20-19 lead.
Erickson tied the game, but the Matadors responded with three in a row to lead 23-20, forcing an Aggie timeout. Then, following a service error, CSUN again won six of seven points to take a 29-22 lead. Read kept Davis alive with a spike off the Matador block, but setter Kayla Wright snuck a tipped-ball disguised as a set to an open spot of Aggie territory, ending game one.
In game two, CSUN used a five-point run to take a 6-3 lead and fed off it for all of game two, leading by as many as eight and cruising to another 30-23 win. Game three was more competitive, as CSUN scored the first two points, only to see the Aggies rip off four in a row and lead 4-2. The Matadors, though, answered with three in a row to reclaim the lead.
Davis tied the game on an attack error, but the Matadors responded by winning another three consecutive points, the last two scored by Burdine to take an 8-5 lead, forcing an Aggie timeout.
CSUN increased its lead to 12-8, but Davis hung tough, winning the next three sets to close to within one. Opposite Hillary Brinkman went off a Davis block to give CSUN the ball back. Then, following an Erickson kill, the Matadors again won three consecutive sets to raise their lead back to four at 17-13. Erickson again brought the Aggies back, earning a kill and an ace serve, cutting the lead in half. Burdine then snuck a tip past the Aggie defense, but Davis caught fire, winning the next four sets to take a 19-18 lead, forcing a Matador timeout.
Read increased the Davis lead to two with a kill off a CSUN block. Burdine answered with a kill off an Aggie block; Read did so again to keep the lead at two, but middle blocker Val Kepler went off a Davis block, then teamed with Hupp to deny a Davis hit, tying the game at 21.
Erickson got Davis back in front with a kill, raising the Aggie advantage back to a pair with a tip, forcing a Matador timeout.
CSUN, though, caught lightning in a bottle. Grayson started the rally with a kill, then Brinkman went off a Davis block to tie the game and a hit by the Aggies’ Chantal Paschetta went wide left and out of bounds, giving CSUN a 24-23 lead which forced a Davis timeout.
CSUN though stayed hot, winning three more sets to lead 27-23. Davis only broke the run on a Matador service error, but gave the ball back on a double-contact violation, which gave CSUN a 28-24 lead. UC Davis, though, got hot again, winning four in a row to tie the game at 28, but Donaldson put aside any thoughts of a Matador collapse, sneaking a tip ball past the Aggie defense and ending the match with a hit into open Aggie territory to seal the match.
“Sometimes we have a hard time putting the ball away at the very end and finishing games,” libero Amy Hultner said. “We know it’s something we need to work on, so we’ll continue to work on that, but all-n-all, we ended up winning, so we’re happy with that.”
Hupp finished the night with 20 set assists while Wright had 19. Libero Kelley Hanson led the Matadors in digs with 15 while Hultner had 10.
The Aggies’ Avreeta Singh had 16 digs and Katelyn Astruc had 32 assists.
“Overall, they (UC Davis) played very well and we played steady,” Stork said. “There was only a little bit of a lapse in game three, but we’ll work through that.”
CSUN resumes conference play on the road Oct. 12, as they travel to Fullerton for a rematch with the Titans at Titan Gym, then to Riverside to face the Highlanders on Oct. 14.
