April 1, 2008

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - NORTHRIDGE VOLLEYBALL THIS WEEK:

MATCH #25 #2 Northridge at #9 UC Irvine • Tuesday, April 1 • Bren Events Center • 7 p.m. MATCH #26 #2 Northridge at #7 UCLA • Friday, April 4 • Pauley Pavilion • 7 p.m.

NO. 2 MATADORS WRAP UP ROAD SCHEDULE AT UC IRVINE, UCLA THIS WEEK After wrapping up a perfect 6-0 homestand, second-ranked Cal State Northridge (20-4, 15-3 MPSF) wraps up its 2008 road schedule this week as the Matadors travel to No. 9 UC Irvine on Tuesday and No. 7 UCLA on Friday. Northridge will put its school-record 14-match win streak on the line at UC Irvine, where the Matadors are 16-8 all-time. Northridge defeated the Anteaters in three games on Feb. 20 in The Matadome. The Matadors, who defeated UCLA in four on Feb. 22, are 5-23 all-time in 28 matches at Pauley Pavilion. Northridge, at the top of the MPSF standings at 15-3, control their own destiny in a bid to host the MPSF Tournament.

MATADORS COMPLETE PERFECT HOMESTAND WITH WINS OVER HAWAI'I AND HOPE Junior Eric Vance put down a career-high 40 kills as second-ranked Cal State Northridge held off the upset bid of No. 13 Hawai'i to win in five games (30-28, 41-43, 26-30, 30-22, 15-13). Vance's 40 kills, the best in the MPSF this season, came within one of the Northridge rally-scoring era record of 41 set by Dan Rhodes against Pepperdine in 2006. The junior from Camarillo took a career-high 86 swings on Tuesday, shattering his previous career-high of 57 attempts against UCLA in 2006. Vance hit .326 and added four aces, nine digs and three blocks. Senior Isaac Kneubuhl added 19 kills (.170), nine digs and a pair of aces and Kevin McKniff played well in the middle with 15 kills (.565), four blocks and a career-high five digs. After being pushed to the limit by Hawai'i one night earlier, Northridge rolled past the 13th-ranked Warriors on Wednesday 30-21, 30-25, 30-28. Vance led the Matador offense with 15 kills while hitting .333. On Friday, Vance knocked down a match-high 15 kills and Kneubuhl added 12 as Northridge won its 14th-consecutive match with a 30-20, 30-22, 30-20 non-conference win over Hope International. Vance tallied his 15 kills on 25 swings for a .400 hitting clip while Kneubuhl had 12 kills without an error in 15 attacks for an impressive .800 percentage.

MATADORS REMAIN SECOND IN AVCA POLL After running their school-record win streak to 14 with three wins last week, the Matadors remained second for the second straight week in the CBS College Sports Network/AVCA Top 15 Poll. Northridge (20-4) received four first-place votes and 227 points while top-ranked Penn State (24-1) tallied 12 first-place votes and 234 points to take the number one spot. BYU (19-4) is third this week followed by Long Beach State (19-5) and Pepperdine (12-8) rounds out this week's top five. Ball State (17-7), UCLA (15-11), Stanford (14-9), UC Irvine (12-13) and Ohio State (13-7) 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. 24.

BLUEMLING MOVES INTO 4TH IN ASSISTS With 141 assists in three matches last week, including a career-high 71 in the five-set win over Hawai'i, senior setter Travis Bluemling moved into fourth place on the all-time Northridge assists list with 3,587 career helpers. Bluemling, who has 1,138 assists this season, surpassed 1,000 season assists for the second time in his career and with 350 more assists this season 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 3,587 career assists, the senior from Pittsburgh, Pa. passed Gary Reznick (3,530 career assists) into fourth place on the all-time assists list in Matador history. Bluemling needs 413 assists to become just the fourth setter in Matador history with 4,000 career assists.

MATADORS IN THE NCAA STATS Several Northridge players appear in this week's NCAA statistics report. Junior Eric Vance ranks second in aces (.542), sixth in points (5.49) and is ninth in kills (4.59). Also figuring into the national stats, senior Travis Bluemling remains third in assists (13.08 per game), freshman Cody Loe (.430) and sophomore Kevin McKniff (.398) rank 11th and 13th respectively in hitting percentage, senior Isaac Kneubuhl is 13th in aces (.400) and sophomore Ali'i Keohohou is 12th in digs (2.52 per game). As a team, the Matadors remain third in the country in team hitting at .323.

VANCE HAS MONUMENTAL WEEK Last week, junior outside hitter Eric Vance added an incredible week to an already incredible season. Vance pounded 70 kills while hitting .340 for the week. In the two matches against No. 13 Hawai'i, Vance knocked down 55 kills (6.88 kpg), including a career-high 40 (in a career-high 86 swings) in the five-set opener. The junior also had 13 aces (a career-high six against Hope International) and 13 digs as the Matadors wrapped up a 6-0 homestand.

NORTHRIDGE NOTES With just four MPSF matches to go in the regular season, the Matadors hold their destiny in their own hands in regards to a possible number one seed in the MPSF Tournament. Should Northridge win out, the Matadors would host the MPSF Tournament for the first time ever. Northridge (15-3) currently has a one-game lead on both Long Beach State (14-4) and BYU (14-4) in the battle to host the tournament. The Matadors and Long Beach will meet in the regular season finale in Northridge on Apr. 12 ... In 31 years, the Matadors have never completed a season undefeated at home. The 1991 Northridge team (13-1) came within one loss of going undefeated while the 1981 team lost just once in eight home matches. Northridge is a perfect 10-0 on the home floor with two matches to go ... Sophomores Ali'i Keohohou and Mike Gaudino are quite the digging duo of late. Keohohou posted a career-high 20 digs in the five--game win over Hawai'i while Gaudino also notched a career-high 18 digs in the same match. Gaudino then came back with 16 digs the next night as the Matadors won in three ... Redshirt freshman Dan Tice registered his first collegiate kill in his first start against Hawai'i on Mar. 25. Tice wound up with four kills in 14 swings and just one error in his two starts.

NORTHRIDGE ON THE NET Both Northridge road matches this week 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 Tuesday's match at UC Irvine.

SCOUTING NO. 9 UC IRVINE The ninth-ranked Anteaters (12-13, 8-10 MPSF) wrap up their home schedule against the Matadors on Tuesday. UCI, which is 2-2 over its last four mnatches, is led by junior OPP Jon Steller who is the team's leading attacker with 278 kills. Fellow junior OH Taylor Wilson averages a team-best 3.95 kills per game for the Anteaters who are hitting .286 as a team. Ryan Ammerman and Anthony Spittle have split time at setter with Spittle averaging 10.75 apg and Ammerman at 8.75. Head coach John Speraw is in his sixth season at UC Irvine and sports a 111-72 career and school record. The Matadors lead 31-14 in the all-time series with the Anteaters and are 16-8 all-time at UCI. Northridge won in three games at The Matadome (2-20) behind 23 kills from Eric Vance.

SCOUTING NO. 7 UCLA The seventh-ranked Bruins (15-11, 10-8 MPSF) host No. 14 UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday before closing their home schedule on Friday vs. the Matadors. UCLA has won five of its last seven matches but split two matches last week. The Bruins dropped a five-game decision at UC San Diego before upsetting No. 3 Long Beach State in four. Sophomore OH Garrett Muagututialeads UCLA in kills (397) and averages a team-high 4.01 kpg. Junior OPP Sean O'Malley averages 3.42 kpg while hitting .309. Head coach Al Scates is in his 46th season at UCLA and sports a 1,169-234 career and school record. The Matadors snapped a three-match losing streak to the Bruins on Feb. 22 and the two teams have now split the last six matches.

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