By james art HONOLULU, Oahu – Amaris Smith led CSUN with 15 kills and Julia Bazilevich came off the bench to add a season-high 13 kills, but the Matadors fell in a five-set battle against Hawaii on Sunday night at SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Smith, one of three CSUN hitters in double figures, hit .236 on 55 swings, followed by Bazilevich, who added 13 on a .257 hitting clip. Leah Miller recorded 11 kills (.194) and 11 digs for her second career double-double. Setter Katie Kolar also recorded a double-double – her 12th of the season – with 48 assists and 11 steals. Sophomore libero Paige Centes led all players in the game with 28 hits, three off her career high.
CSUN hit the Rainbow Wahine .239 to .213 and also had 10 aces to seven for the hosts while posting a 10-8 advantage in team blocks. Hawai’i had 72 kills to the Matadors’ 62 and had 90 digs to CSUN’s 86.
S1 l UH 25, CSUN 22 – With the score tied 2-2, the Rainbow Wahine went on a 10-2 run to lead by as many as eight at 12-4. Still down by six (16-10), CSUN rallied, winning seven of the next 10 points to pull within 20-17 after a Brockway kill. Hawai’i scored twice to push the lead back to five at 22-17 before a 5-1 CSUN run cut the lead to one at 23-22. But a kill and block by Caylen Alexander would seal a 25-22 victory for the home team.
S2 l CSUN 25, UH 17 – The Matadors took a 5-0 lead and would never trail in the set. Leading 6-2, CSUN would outscore the Rainbow Wahine 8-2 over the next 10 points to take a double-digit lead at 14-4. The hosts got back within five at 19-14 when a kill by Smith sent the Matadors on a 6-3 run to earn a 25-17 victory.
S2 l Hawai'i can't return Bazylevych's swing and the Matadors take the 2nd set 25-17 ... We're even at 1-set apiece from Honolulu#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/Mhce1jrxZC
— CSUN Women's Volleyball (@csunwomensvb) October 28, 2024
S3 l CSUN 30, UH 28 – After CSUN took an early 3-0 lead, Hawai’i responded with a 3-0 run and neither team would lead by more than two until Ie Okolo klll gave the Matadors a 16-13 lead. A subsequent 5-1 run by Hawai’i put the hosts back in front before CSUN scored twice to tie the game at 21-21. Three straight points from the Rainbow Wahine put the hosts up with set point before a pair of Hawaii hitting errors gave the Matadors a 25-24 set point. CSUN would also have set points at 27-26 and 29-28 when Kolar served an ace, giving the Matadors the set.
S3 l Kolar deals the ACE on set point and #CSUN takes the 3rd set 30-28 and has a 2 sets to 1 lead in Honolulu#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/et6w5LvIom
— CSUN Women's Volleyball (@csunwomensvb) October 28, 2024
S4 l UH 25, CSUN 19 – After the hosts scored the first two points, A Bazylevych’s kill pulled CSUN within 5-4. But a 7-3 run by Hawai’i opened up a 12-7 advantage that the Matadors couldn’t overcome. CSUN battled back to within one after an Autumn Rogelio ace (18-17), but that was as close as the Matadors would get before Hawai’i pulled away for the 25-19 victory.
S5 l UH 15, CSUN 12 – Neither team was able to gain more than a one-point lead in the fifth until Hawai’i used a solo block to open up a 10-8 cushion. An Okolo kill after a CSUN timeout cut the lead back to one before a Presley Nippert an ace made it 10-10. The score remained tied at 11-11 when the Rainbow Wahine scored three straight goals to force a final Matador timeout. Another point from Hawai’i gave the home team a match point before Basilewicz responded with a kill, saving one match point. Hawai’i would connect on its next try as a kill by Stella Adeyemi sent the hosts to a 15-12 victory.
NOTES
- With the win, Hawai’i improves to 13-7 (7-3 Big West) while improving to 31-2 in the all-time series against CSUN.
NEXT
CSUN returns home to open the second half of the Big West season, hosting Cal State Fullerton (Nov. 1) and UC Irvine (Nov. 2) at Premier America Credit Union Arena next week.
#GoMatadors