The UCI Women’s Volleyball team (14-8, 7-5) defeated the CSU Northridge Matadors (7-17, 2-10), 3-2 (23-25, 25-12, 23-25, 25-23, 15-10), at Premier America Credit Union Arena in Northridge, CA on Saturday, Oct. 29.
The first set started neck-and-neck, UCI ahead by only a couple points. However, Northridge soon overcame the Anteaters and ran off with the lead. Fighting to stay in the game, the Anteaters closed the gap and secured a one point advantage with an ‘Eater kill by sophomore opposite Ellen Veargason.
It wasn’t long before a couple of Matador blocks from junior middle blocker Lauryn Anderson and redshirt sophomore opposite Magdalena Juric reclaimed the lead at 15-14. Northridge kept up their offensive control of the game, forcing UCI’s head coach Ashlie Hain to call a timeout with UCI trailing by three points at 20-17.
The timeout boded well for the Anteaters, allowing the team to accumulate three points right off the bench. Visibly frazzled, CSUN’s head coach John Price called a timeout in an attempt to slow the pace.
With both teams back on the court, it was evident that both were tightly matched. The teams exchanged points until the scoreboard read 24-23 in Northridge’s favor. Coach Hain decided to use a timeout hoping it would throw off the Matadors, yet, her strategy was unsuccessful. The first set ended with a Matador kill by senior outside hitter Nicole Nevarez, securing the CSUN win at 25-23.
Going into set two, an early challenge call was made by UCI, arguing that CSU Northridge touched the ball before it fell out of bounds, which would have made it an ‘Eater point. Unfortunately for the Anteaters, the point went to the Matadors.
Irvine made a strong comeback, scoring five unanswered points with a block by UCI’s Veargason, a tip and kill by UCI’s junior middle blocker Onye Ofoegbu and some help with the offensive errors that came from CSUN. The Matadors managed to score a small number of points before UCI, swept by the momentum, went on another streak to make the score 14-5.
As the set progressed, the Matadors struggled to stay in the set. The Matadors struggled to stay in the game. Shutting down CSUN for the final time of the set, Veargason ended the second set with a kill from the right side to lock in the score at 25-12, tied 1-1.
The Anteaters started off set three in dominating fashion as they scored the first three points with no pushback from the Matadors. Despite the Matador’s best efforts, UCI’s unwavering offensive pressure secured the lead at 15-10.
After a media timeout, redshirt junior Kiani Stanton and junior outside hitter Joy Umeh teamed up for a block for two plays in a row. In retaliation, Hunter floated the ball in the middle of the wide-open Anteater’s court to make it 15-20 for the Matadors.
The ’Eaters’ defensive errors allowed the Matadors to close the gap to a mere three points. A pass set from CSUN freshman libero Breanna Mitchell to junior outside hitter Taylor Orshoff led to a kill just inside the court to make it a one-point game for the Matadors at 21-22.
Moments later, freshman libero Campbell Jensen shanked a serve from CSUN sophomore setter Carisa Barron, letting go of the lead to the Matadors and forcing an Anteater timeout. Mitchell took care of the floating serve from UCI junior libero Sofia Skukan to set up a kill from Juric for the Matadors to take the third set 25-23 after a fierce comeback from 12-20.
Early into the fourth set, Sparks served a short floating ball right in front of sophomore outside hitter Marianna Bertolone, putting up the Matadors 5-2. After a well-placed backset to the rightside from Sparks, Barron powered down a kill across the court and extended CSUN’s lead by two points after an attempt by the ‘Eaters to close the gap. However, UC Irvine climbed back up with an ace from Jensen to tie the set and a Umeh kill to lead 10-9.
Jensen, the reigning Big West Freshman of the Week, picked up a line hit by Juric to set up Bertolone for a back-two to make it 16-17. In response, a crafty tip over the wall from Umeh allowed the Anteaters to take the lead.
With the set tied at 23, Bertolone scored a hit on CSUN senior outside hitter Nicole Nevarez to make it set point for the Anteaters. Stanton got the job done with a kill down the middle to take the fourth set 25-23.
The ’Eaters took a quick lead in the fifth set, forcing an early timeout for Northridge at 3-0. The Matadors regrouped after the timeout and stopped UC Irvine’s momentum. A grueling back-and-forth between both sides followed in a last dash to the victory.
On the serving line for UCI’s match point, sophomore setter Indy DeSmet’s serve got caught in the net to hand over the ball to the Matadors, maintaining a considerable lead at 14-9. However, miscommunication between Barron and Juric caused Barron to misplace the backset, ending the fifth and final set at 15-10 with an Irvine victory.
The ’Eaters will be back at the Bren Events Center in Irvine, CA against UC Riverside on Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. The match can be watched here.
Seattle Barron is a Sports Intern for the fall 2022 quarter. She can be reached at skbarron@uci.edu
Hanah Kitamoto is a Sports Intern for the fall 2022 quarter. She can be reached at ykitamot@uci.edu.
