Nov. 4, 2011

Final Stats

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - Freshman middle blocker Casey Hinger hit 12-for-16 with no errors while two other Matadors reached double-digit kills to lead Cal State Northridge to a 25-23, 25-16, 25-17 sweep over UC Davis in a Big West Conference women's volleyball match at the Matadome Friday evening in front of 689.

The Aggies fall to 20-7 for the year and 6-6 in conference play. The Matadors improve to 12-11 overall and 6-5 in Big West action.

Senior middle blocker and reigning conference Player of the Week Betsy Sedlak hit 8-1-13 for a .538 hitting average to pace UC Davis offensively. Sophomore opposite Devon Damelio tallied a team-best nine kills and nine digs.

For CSUN, Hinger's .750 success rate propelled her team to a .465 average. Right-side hitter Natalie Allen contributed 12-3-23 (.391) offense while outside hitter Mahina Haina led all players with 15 kills and 29 swings.

Although the Matadors led for almost the entirety, UC Davis gave its best chase in the two-point first set. Gedryn posted two kills and a block assist amidst a 5-0 run to put CSUN up by 9-5, never to relinquish the lead. UC Davis closed the gap to a single point on six occasions in the final stretch: the first two on Valerie Brain kills, the third time on Kaitlyn Plum's ace and the fourth on consecutive block assists by Sedlak and junior Allison Whitson. Sedlak made it 23-22 and 24-23 in transition but UC Davis never could equalize. Allen put down the winner to complete a side out for the 25th point.

The second and third sets proved more decisive for the host Matadors. Allen had three kills to ignite her team to a 9-4 start, then her ace later set the board at 12-5. A 5-1 CSUN run later extended the lead to its apex of 18-8 before the Aggies mounted a minor comeback to close the gap to 22-16. Hinger, Allen and Haina scored in succession to close out the set and give the Matadors a 2-0 match lead at the break.

In the third set, two Haina kills and a Sydney Gedryn ace set Northridge off to a 7-3 start. Senior middle Katie Denny served up back-to-back aces to help UC Davis reduce the deficit to 8-7, but the Matadors scored seven of the next 10 to pad their advantage to 15-10. The Aggies never approached by better than four points the rest of the way; Haina put down three kills in the final six points to help complete the sweep.

UC Davis hit a respectable .226 for the match but could only convert 57 percent of its side-out chances compared to CSUN's 75 percent rate. Furthermore, the heavy Mataodor hitting resulted in just 31 Aggie digs, a season low.

UC Davis returns to action at UC Riverside on Saturday. Match time at the Student Recreation Center is 7:30 p.m.

-mh-