Nov. 12, 2005

Box Score

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - Cal State Northridge wrapped up its home season on Saturday as the Matadors were swept in three games by UC Santa Barbara, 30-23, 30-21, 30-17 in a Big West Conference volleyball match at The Matadome.

With the win, the Gauchos improve to 17-8 overall and 12-2 in the Big West, while the Matadors drop their sixth straight and slip to 4-21 overall and 2-10 in conference play.

Freshman Jenn Probert was the CSUN leader in kills with seven, but hit -.080 for the match. Fellow freshman Harmony Burdine had six kills, hitting .033 and Diva Kakonde and Hilary Brinkman each chipped in three kills. Matador setter Kayla Wright was Northridge's most effective hitter as she recorded four kills and a .667 hitting percentage. Wright also had 19 assists and eight digs. Matador libero Jamie Crawford tied for the match-high with 12 digs in the loss.

For the Gauchos, Janine Sandell knocked down a match-high 14 kills, hitting just .162 but did also post 12 digs. Bethany Johansen also reached double figures with 11 kills hitting .500 to go with a match- high seven blocks. Lauren McLaughlin also posted 12 digs for UCSB and setter Ashley Dutro recorded 34 assists.

With neither team hitting at a high percentage, the Gauchos wound up out-hitting the Matadors .192 to .019. UCSB also dominated the service ace category with 12 aces to CSUN's three. The Gauchos recorded 48 team digs to 38 for the Matadors and had 10.0 team blocks to 7.5 for CSUN.

In game one, the Gauchos opened up a 13-6 lead after a McLaughlin service ace forcing a Northridge timeout. Down 21-13, the Matadors won eight of the next 10 points to cut the UCSB lead to 23-21. The Gauchos responded by winning six consecutive points and cruised home with the 30-23 win.

In the second game, CSUN again fell behind 20-10 only to battle back to within 21-17 after a Jamie Garbisch hitting error. But UCSB claimed the next three points forcing a Northridge timeout at 24-17. The Matadors would get within 24-18 but no closer as the final was 30-21.

The final game was all Gauchos as jumped out to a 12-6 lead which eventually grew to 21-8. With CSUN trailing 29-11, the Matadors rallied for six straight points before Sandell ended the match with a kill.