The UC Irvine Anteaters (11-19) swept the Matadors (6-23) in the second-to-last game of the season Nov. 17 at the Premier America Credit Union Arena.

Although CSUN maintained great effort throughout the game, the team struggled to close out each tightly contested set due to their poor defense, as all three sets were ultimately decided by five points or less.

While all three sets came down to the wire, CSUN Director of Women’s Volleyball John Price believed the team had many opportunities to win the final two but were unable to turn it around.

“We played well enough to win, and if we made a little more of the easier plays…well, we were neck-and-neck with them all three games and continued to not make the easy play and that came back to haunt us tonight,” Price said.

The Anteaters had an overwhelming 21 kills in the final set, however Price noted that much of that can be attributed to the Matadors’ inability to “make plays” on “balls that should’ve been dug.”

While the loss was disheartening to the team, they still had two excellent performances from opposite Leah Miller and middle blocker Taylor Hunter, as each had about 13 points in the game. Both Miller and Hunter had double digit kills and the duo was credited with seven of the team’s 10 blocks on the night.

The Matadors’ inability to gather themselves amid long scoring droughts has plagued the team throughout this troubling season, and can be largely attributed to the team’s lack of experience.

“I feel like the end of sets we were playing with a little bit more urgency whereas in the beginning of sets we’re so focused on points that if we’re down a little we get nervous,” Hunter said. “The end we pick it up a lot more.”

The Matadors then hosted their final game of the season against CSUF Nov. 18 at the Premier America Credit Union Arena.