March 25, 2008

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - NORTHRIDGE VOLLEYBALL THIS WEEK:

MATCH #22:#13 Hawai'i at #2 Northridge • Tuesday, March 25 • The Matadome • 7 p.m. MATCH #23:#13 Hawai'i at #2 Northridge • Wednesday, March 26 • The Matadome • 7 p.m. MATCH #24:Hope International at #2 Northridge • Friday, March 28 • The Matadome • 7 p.m.

NO. 2 MATADORS WRAP UP SIX-MATCH HOMESTAND WITH THREE MATCHES THIS WEEK Second-ranked Cal State Northridge (17-4, 13-3 MPSF), winners of a school-record 11 consecutive matches, looks to continue its amazing run over the last six weeks as the Matadors host No. 13 Hawai'i (10-11, 7-9 MPSF) for two matches and Hope International for one this week. The match against Hope marks the final regular season non-conference match for Northridge in 2008. The Matadors not only put their 11-match win streak on the line this week but also its unblemished 7-0 home record. The Matadors, the first team in the MPSF to reach 13 conference wins, trail 42-11 in the all-time series with Hawai'i and are 4-16 against the Warriors in The Matadome. In addition, Hawai'i has won the last six matches between the two teams. Northridge is 1-0 all-time against Hope as the Matadors won the previous meeting 3-0 in 2005.

MATADORS CLAIM SCHOOL-RECORD 11TH STRAIGHT WIN WITH FIVE-SET WIN OVER PEPPERDINE Junior Eric Vance pounded a career-high 27 kills and Isaac Kneubuhl and Cody Loe also had double figures in kills as second-ranked Cal State Northridge won its 11th consecutive match by holding off No. 5 Pepperdine 30-26, 28-30, 30-25, 26-30, 15-11 on Wednesday, Mar. 12 in front of the 12th largest crowd (1,079) ever at The Matadome. In posting his third straight double-double, Vance eclipsed his previous career-high in kills (26) with 27 on Wednesday. He hit a solid .383 and added a match-high 13 digs to go with three aces. Vance and Kneubuhl (17 kills) combined for 44 of the Matadors' 71 kills on the night. Kneubuhl also added a pair of aces and seven digs while Loe chipped in 13 kills (.440) and four blocks. Sophomore Mike Gaudino served a career-high six aces as Northridge posted 12 aces as a team.

MATADORS DROP TO NO. 2 BY ONE POINT One week after defeating No. 5 Pepperdine to run their win streak to 11, the Matadors (idle last week) were out-pointed by Penn State for top spot in this week's CBS College Sports Network/AVCA Top 15 Poll. Northridge (17-4) received seven first-place votes and a season-high 228 points while Penn State (21-1) also tallied seven first-place votes but earned 229 points to take the number one spot. Long Beach State (19-3), which earned the other two firstplace votes, is third after taking a pair from BYU (17-4). The Cougars drop from first to fourth this week and Pepperdine (10-8) rounds out this week's top five. Stanford (14-7), Ball State (16-6), UCLA (14-10), UC Irvine (11-12) and Ohio State (10-6) complete this week's top 10. Northridge moved up one spot from third to a season-high second in the most recent Molten/Volleyball poll released Mar. 17.

BLUEMLING CONTINUES UP ASSISTS LADDER Senior setter Travis Bluemling is closing in on 1,000 season assists for the second time in his career. Bluemling currently has 997 assists this season and with 491 assists over the remainder of the season, he can set a personal season-high. Bluemling posted a season-best 1,488 assists as a sophomore in 2006 in addition to 158 as a redshirt freshman and 803 as a junior in 2007. With 3,446 career helpers, the senior from Pittsburgh, Pa. is closing in on Gary Reznick (3,530 career assists) and fourth place on the all-time assists list in Matador history. On his current pace, he should pass Reznick this week. Bluemling needs 554 assists to become just the fourth setter in Matador history with 4,000 career assists.

VANCE EARNS SECOND POW HONOR Junior outside hitter Eric Vance earned his second MPSF Player of the Week honor as he was tabbed, along with Long Beach State's Paul Lotman, conference Co-Player of the Week for his efforts against No. 5 Pepperdine last week. Vance put down a career-high 27 kills in the five-game win (5.40 kpg) while hitting .383 to go with three aces and a pair of blocks. Vance also added a season-high 13 digs for his third consecutive double-double this season.

MATADORS IN THE NCAA STATS Several Northridge players appear in this week's NCAA statistics report. Junior Eric Vance ranks ninth in points (5.15), 10th in aces (.444) and is 12th in kills (4.32). Also figuring into the national stats, senior Travis Bluemling remains third in assists (12.95 per game), freshman Cody Loe (.430) and sophomore Kevin McKniff (.398) rank 11th and 18th respectively in hitting percentage, senior Isaac Kneubuhl is tied for 16th in aces (.373) and sophomore Ali'i Keohohou is 14th in digs (2.47 per game). As a team, the Matadors remain third in the country in team hitting at .323.

NORTHRIDGE NOTES With just six MPSF matches to go in the regular season, the Matadors are primed to host their first-ever MPSF Tournament Quarterfinal match and possible the conference tournament. Northridge has twice hosted the MPSF Play-In match (2005, 2007) but has never finished in the top four in the conference standings to host a Quarterfinal match. If the season ended today, BYU would host the tournament while Long Beach State, Northridge, and UCLA would host Quarterfinal matches ... Matador head coach Jeff Campbell, who picked up the 150th win of his coaching career against Pacific on Feb. 8, is closing in on the 100th MPSF win of his career. Campbell is currently 160-147 (.521) overall and 99-123 (.445) in conference in his 11th season on the Northridge bench ... The win over Pepperdine kept the Matadors' perfect home record intact at 7-0 and their perfect record in March intact at 4-0. Northridge is the only team in the MPSF to remain undefeated at home ... The announced crowd of 1,079 at the Pepperdine-Northridge match is the 12th-largest crowd in Matador volleyball history.

NORTHRIDGE ON THE NET Both Hawai'i-Northridge matches and Friday's match vs. Hope will be broadcast live with Cory Bluemling, the voice of Matador men's volleyball, calling all the action. Click the newly-launched GoMatadors.com for more information. The Gametracker feature will also be available for this week's matches.

SCOUTING NO. 13 HAWAI'I The 13th-ranked Warriors (10-11, 7-9 MPSF) wrap up their four-match road trip in Northridge this week. Hawai'i is coming off a two-match split against USC last week. The Warriors, just 3-5 on the road this season, are led by junior OH James Clar who is the team's leading attacker at 3.77 kpg. Freshman OH Joshua Walker is next at 3.46 kpg while soph. libero Ric Cervantes leads the team in digs with 259 (3.24 per game) while setters Sean Carney and Nejc Zemljak have split time running the Warrior offense, with Carney starting the last 12 matches. Carney leads the team with 780 assists (9.40 per game). Head coach Mike Wilton is in his 16th season at Hawai'i and sports a 306-144 school record. Overall, Wilton is 627-294 in his 31st season as a head coach.