Sept. 26, 2009
Box Score
Stockton, Calif. - Behind junior Svenja Engelhardt's match-leading 11 kills, Pacific overpowered Cal State Northridge 3-0 on Saturday, September 26.
Set scores for the match were: 25-13, 25-15 and 25-16.
With the victory, Pacific improved to 11-2 and 1-1 in the Big West Conference, while Cal State Northridge fell to 4-10 overall and 0-2 in conference play.
Opening their 2009 home Big West schedule, the Tigers washed out the bad taste in their mouth from their conference opener with a dominant performance over the Matadors at the Spanos Center. Wasting little time to get back on track, the Tigers opened the first set by winning the seven of the first 10 points and 12 of the first 17, forcing the Matadors to call and early timeout in hopes of quelling the onrush by Pacific. However, the timeout would only slow the Tigers momentarily as the Tigers used a balanced attack to keep to Cal State Northridge on its heels and take the first set using a 13-8 run.
For the Tigers, every attack got into the action in the opening set with all five Tiger hitters posting at least two kills. Engelhardt led the way for Pacific with four kills in the set on six swings with no errors as the Tigers posted their best hitting set of the season tallying a .542 hitting percentage with 14 kills and just one error in 24 attempts. Additionally, the Tigers kept the Matadors from finding their own rhythm as they posted just nine kills in 30 swings with six errors for a .100 hitting percentage.
After cruising in the first set, Pacific continued the rout in set two, running out to a 10-3 lead before the Matadors could react. Engelhardt got the Tigers rolling in the set with a pair of service aces, breaking a two match drought and setting the Tigers up for the remainder of the set. Continuing to keep the pressure on Cal State Northridge, the Tigers broke out to 17-5 lead with senior Natalia Tomaszewska (Marklowice, Poland) behind the service line. The senior served five straight points with Engelhardt picking up three kills during the rotation. Up big, the Tigers sent freshmen Pihanakealoha Kea (Honolulu, Hawaii) and Gabby Cowden (Danville, Calif.) into the match to pick up valuable playing time against their conference foe.
With Kea on the floor, the Tigers' attack continued to run both on the outside and in the middle as she picked up a career-high six assists while also posting her first collegiate block, combining with Tomaszewska to deny a late Matador attack. With Kea combining with senior Olivia Riley (Agua Dulce, Calif.), the Tigers balanced attack once again saw all five starting hitters post kills in the. Senior Masha Vaysburg continued to push the pace in the middle, upping her output from set one (two kills on three swings) with three kills and no errors on four attempts in the set.
Up two sets to none, the Tigers closed out the match with a diverse attack at the net led by senior Mallori Gibson (Bakersfield, Calif.) who posted four kills and just one error on nine swings in the set. Unlike the first two sets, the Matadors hung close with the Tigers throughout the first half of the set until Pacific used a 5-2 run at 11-7 to open up a seven point advantage that they would hold and even improve open to close the match.
The Tigers continued to rediscover their serve in the third set, posting four aces to finish the match with nine as a team. Sophomore Rebekah Torres (Wahiawa, Hawaii), despite playing with a dislocated finger on her left hand, led the way with four aces in the match including picking up a pair in the final set.
Overall, Engelhardt's 11 kills came on just 17 swings as she hit a career-best .588 hitting percentage in the match after posting just one error. She added a two aces, two digs and two blocks to the Tigers' cause to go along with her kills. Vaysburg was nearly perfect from the floor in the match as she posted eight kills on 11 swings with no errors for a .727 hitting percentage. She combined with Tomaszewska to post 13 kills on 21 swings with no errors as the middle blocking combo also added six blocks with Tomaszewska leading the way with five, including a solo effort. As a team the Tigers hit .407 for the match with 40 kills and just seven errors on 81 attempts.
On the other side of the net, the Matadors were held to just 27 kills on 88 swings, posting 17 errors for a .114 hitting percentage. The lone bright spot for Cal State Northridge was Angela Hupp who finished with eight kills and just one error on 16 attempts for a .438 hitting percentage. She also added a team-high 14 assists and tallied four digs on the night.
Pacific next returns to action when they hit the road and take on UC Irvine on Friday, Oct. 2.
