Wahine’s streak ends at 7

NORTHRIDGE Calif. » Cal State Northridge is not known as one of the most intimidating places to play. But for the second consecutive season, the Matadors proved to be rude hosts to Hawaii.

Sparked by stellar serving and a balanced attack, the Matadors upset the No. 21 Rainbow Wahine, 25-17, 25-20, 25-21, Friday night in front of 1,232 at the Matadome. It was the first home match for CSUN (12-4, 3-1 Big West) after 15 on the road.

The loss — its first since being swept by UCLA on Sept. 12 — drops Hawaii to 12-4 overall, 4-1 and out of first place in the Big West. Long Beach State, Hawaii’s opponent Saturday, sits on top of the standings at 3-0.

"We were outplayed in every phase of the game," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "I knew this would be tough for us. They had a lot of energy and we didn’t."

The loss snapped a seven-match win streak for Hawaii. The Wahine are 15-2 all-time versus the Matadors. Their past three trips to Northridge have been difficult.

In 2012, UH rallied to win a five-set thriller, but last season it was CSUN’s turn, rallying from a set down to win the last two and hand UH its first loss of the series.

Northridge fed off a boisterous home crowd during the 96 minutes.

"It’s always nice to play in an environment like this," Matadors coach Jeff Stork said. "It may not be the 9,000 (fans) at Hawaii, but they’re on you. The girls were waiting for this. It was a big match, and we’re happy we came out on top."

The Matadors were without starting setter Steffi Miller, who injured her right ankle in practice on Wednesday. CSUN started true freshman Lauren Conati and didn’t miss a beat as three different hitters put down at least 10 kills, led by junior Danetta Boykins’ 14.

Conati finished with 38 assists.

"She’s a competitor," Stork said. "For a freshman to play this well in this type of environment against a ranked team was outstanding."

Junior Cleana Stinson added 12 kills and senior Casey Hinger 10. Northridge hit .267 to UH’s .223.

Although the Matadors recorded just six aces, the Rainbow Wahine had difficulties throughout the night with its serve-receive game.

"You can’t win matches the way we passed tonight," Shoji said.

"Passing is such a fickle skill," said Nikki Taylor, who had a team-high 10 digs. "When you’re on, you’re on, but when you’re off, you’re really off. Tonight was just not our night."

Hawaii had won 21 consecutive sets before the Matadors took the first one on Friday. A float serve by freshman Katie Sato found the floor on set point, just off the reach of Kalei Adolpho.

The Wahine fell behind early in Set 2 at 17-11, but climbed back into it after winning six of the next seven points, the last coming on a solo block by Olivia Magill. But CSUN scored six of the next seven to take a 24-18 lead. Three hitting errors by Hawaii contributed to the rally. A Stinson kill off the hands of Tayler Higgins gave Northridge a 2-0 lead.

Set 3 was nearly identical as the Matadors took leads of 11-8, 14-9 and 18-12 before Hawaii rallied.

Two kills by Taylor and three by Adolpho helped draw UH even at 21-21. But Northridge ended the match by scoring the final four points, the last coming on a net violation.

Taylor and Kalei Greeley led Hawaii with eight kills each. The Wahine outblocked the Matadors 10-3, with Adolpho in on seven.

Friday

Cal State Northridge def. Hawaii, 25-17, 25-20, 25-21

Cal Poly def. CSU Fullerton 25-22, 25-16, 22-25, 25-21

UC Irvine def. UC Santa Barbara, 23-25, 25-23, 25-14, 22-25, 15-9

Saturday

Hawaii at Long Beach State, 4 p.m. HST

Cal Poly at UC Irvine

UC Santa Barbara at CSU Fullerton

UC Riverside at UC Davis

cal state northridge def. 

No. 21 Hawaii 25-17, 25-20, 25-21

Key — s: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct: hitting percentage; d: digs; bs: block solo; ba: block assists; pts: points (kills plus blocks plus aces). Service Aces — Hawaii 1 (Manu-Olevao). CSU Northridge 6 (Sato 2, Randazzo 2, Hinger, Conati). Service errors — Hawaii 6 (Manu-Olevao 2, Mendoza 2, Higgins, Greeley). CSU Northridge 6 (Boykin 4, Hinger, Allen). Assists — Hawaii 33 (Higgins 26, Greeley 2, Koelsch 2, Taylor, Manu-Olevao, Long). CSU Northridge 42 (Conati 38, Hinger, Sato, Randazzo, Kaul). T — 1:36. A — 1,232. Referees — Eric Asami, Kaili Kimura, Kevin Strauss.