Oct. 18, 2008
Box Score
Northridge, Calif. - The Pacific women's volleyball team suffered a 3-1 loss to Cal State Northridge on Saturday, Oct. 18.
The loss moved Pacific to 5-11 on the season and 5-3 in the Big West Conference, while Cal State Northridge moved to 6-15 overall and 1-7 in conference play.
Set scores for the match were: 26-24, 27-25, 18-25 and 27-25.
The Tigers came out of the gate quickly in the opening set, building a 6-1 lead. The Pacific lead remained five points at 9-4, but two Tiger errors seemed to ignite the Matadors. The Matadors pulled even at 11-11 and took their first lead of the match at 15-14, For the rest of the set, the two teams battled back and forth through 11 ties and five lead changes, bringing the set to a 24-23 Cal State Northridge lead. Backs against the wall, senior Shannon Krug (Colorado Springs, Colo.) converted a quick attack to things up at 24-24. The Matadors, however, earned a second set point on a Pacific attacking error, then Angela Hupp converted her fifth kill of the set to lift Cal State Northridge to a 26-24 win.
Pacific was out hit, .316 (16 kills and four errors on 38 attempts) to .167 (16 kills and nine errors on 42 attempts) in the set.
The second set saw the Matadors take the first three points, but Pacific chipped away at the deficit and tied things up at 10-10. Trailing 14-13 moments later, the Tigers appeared to seize control with six straight points. Senior Natalia Tomaszewska (Marklowice, Poland) starter the rally on a kill in the middle, then junior Mallori Gibson (Bakersfield, Calif.) took over. Gibson delivered four service aces over the ensuing five points to lift Pacific to a 19-14 edge. Unfortunately, the Matadors came right back with four points of their own to make it 19-18 and eventually tied the set at 21-21. Once again the set came down to the final points, this time with Pacific earning the first set point at 24-23 on a cross-court kill by Gibson.
A quick set attack from Cal State Northridge's Kayla Wright tied things up at 24-24, then a Pacific error gave the Matadors their first chance to take the second set. A service error gave Pacific new life, but a kill from Cal State Northridge's Brittany Williams and another Pacific error sent the Tigers to the locker room down 2-0 via a 27-25 loss.
The Tigers were out hit .417 (19 kills and four errors on 36 attempts) to .150 (12 kills and six errors on 40 attempts) in the second set.
Out of the break, Pacific seemed to gather themselves as the Tigers came into their own in the latter half of the set. Leading 16-14, Pacific tallied eight of the next 10 points Gibson ignited the Tigers rally on a kill from the outside, followed by her sixth service ace of the night, tying a career-high. Tomaszewska added a kill and an ace of her own, while senior Alexa Anderson (Los Gatos, Calif.) led the Tigers with two kills during the run and six in the set. Pacific went on to take the set, 25-18.
Pacific posted their best hitting percentage of the night .333 (12 kills and three errors on 27 attempts), while Cal State Northridge hit .267 (13 kills and five errors on 30 attempts).
The fourth and final set played very much like the latter portion of sets one and two as neither the Tigers nor the Matadors could create more than two points of separation from the other. The 17th tie of the set came at 23-23. The Tigers earned the first chance to extend the match to a fifth set, when Tomaszewska blocked Hupp in the middle to make it 24-23 in favor of Pacific. A Matador kill followed by a block of Anderson followed as Cal State Northridge grabbed the lead at 25-24. Two Pacific seniors refused to give in as Krug found Anderson on the left side for the tying kill to make it 25-25. A bad set on a loose ball by Pacific gave Cal State Northridge another match point and this time Hupp took advantage, nailing her 16th kill of the night to give the Matadors the 27-25 win.
Anderson led Pacific with a match-high 18 kills, while Gibson finished with 12 kills and 10 digs.
Hupp's 16 kils led the Matadors, while Siara Grayson had 12 kills and Brittany Williams finished with 11 kills.
The Tigers return to action on Wednesday, Oct. 22 as Pacific travels to Bakersfield, Calif. to face Cal State Bakersfield at 7 p.m.
