Cal State Northridge Beats Portland State in Straight Sets
Portland State will play two more matches at the Nike Invitational Friday beginning with Lamar University at 12:00 p.m. CT.
(NORMAN, Okla. ) — The Vikings fell victim to a slow start and fell in straight sets to the California State University-Northridge Matadors Thursday afternoon at the Nike Invitational in Norman, Okla.
The Matadors took the three-set match by scores of 25-21, 25-12, and 25-23.
Neither team came out with a strong hitting performance in the first set as both hit less than .180 for the set. The Vikings (1-6 overall) won the first two points of the match thanks to a pair of Matadors (6-2) attacking errors. CSUN scored the next two to even the set at 2-2. The teams traded points back and forth before the Vikings took a three-point lead at 14-11 after two more CSUN attacking errors.
Following a timeout, the Matadors scored four straight to go up 15-14. Once again the teams traded points until Northridge went up by two points at 21-19. The Matadors then closed out the first to take it 25-21.
Senior OH Cheyne Corrado had a trio of kills in the first set along with five digs. Corrado tallied seven kills and matched her season high in digs with 11.
Portland State fell behind quickly in the second set going down 7-1. The Vikings could not come back from the early deficit and dropped the second set 25-12.
After struggling offensively in the second set, the Vikings came out and had their best set of the match in the third. The set stayed within a point through much of the set, as there were 10 ties and four lead changes.
Freshman MB Sarah Liva tied the set at 18-18 late in the third. The Matadors scored three straight before freshman S Erin Clark stopped the run with a quick kill. A CSUN attacking error brought PSU to within one at 21-20. The Matadors went up 24-21 setting up match point. The Vikings fought off a pair of match points before a PSU attacking error ended the match with a 25-23 CSUN win in the third.
Senior OH Leigh-Ann Haataja led the Vikings with five kills in the third on nine attacks. Haataja had seven kills in the match with just one error on 19 attempts. Freshman OH Roni LaPierre led PSU with eight kills on 38 attacks.
Northridge's Sam Kaul led all players with 12 kills and hit .786 in the match going 12-1-14.
Portland State will play two more matches at the Nike Invitational Friday beginning with Lamar University at 12:00 p.m. CT. The Vikings will then take on host team Oklahoma at 7:00 p.m. CT.
Friday's match with Oklahoma will be televised on Fox College Sports-Pacific on Comcast Channel 415.
NOTES:
Anna DeMots made her first appearance of the season.
Portland State is 0-4 in three-set matches.
Cheyne Corrado matched her season high with 11 digs.
Source: goviks.com
