Matadors Suffer Straight-Set Loss at UC Irvine

Thursday, April 7

Irvine, Calif.

7:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

13-15,6-15

UC Irvine

10-18,7-14

Team	1	2	3	Final F
CSUN	17	18	23	0
UC Irvine	25	25	25	3

Photo by: Laura Pierson

Matadors Suffer Straight-Set Loss at UC Irvine

4/7/2016 11:27:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

IRVINE, CA – Needing to win at least one set Thursday at UC Irvine, the 10th-ranked CSUN Matadors fell in straight sets and were eliminated from MPSF postseason contention by the 15th-ranked Anteaters at the Bren Center.

Set scores were 25-17, 25-18, 25-23.

The Matadors (13-15, 6-15), who held the tiebreaker on the strength of a four-set win over UC Irvine in Northridge on Feb. 17, could not afford to be swept by the Anteaters to stay in the playoff hunt.

"It was a disappointing match because we had a lot of opportunities but we just didn't play well enough," said CSUN head coach Jeff Campbell. "We had a hard time handling their float serve, it's unfortunate to end the season this way."

Freshman Dimitar Kalchev overcame a slow start to lead the Matadors with 10 kills on .300 hitting to go with three blocks. Sophomore Josiah Byers added eight kills on 11 attacks (.545) while fellow sophomore Arvis Greene came off the bench to also post eight kills on ,353 hitting.

Byers led CSUN with four blocks while senior Brian O'Gorman had three including a pair of solo stuffs. The Matadors came on late after being out-blocked by the Anteaters 7-1 midway through set two.

The Matadors put themselves in sizable holes in each of the first two sets. Dan Starkey's swing was stuffed by the UCI block giving the hosts an 11-6 lead in set one. The Anteaters extended their lead to as many as seven (14-7) when UCI blocked Kalchev's swing. Down 24-15, CSUN saved a pair of set points before the 'Eaters closed the set 25-17.

Michael Saeta served one of UCI's seven aces giving the hosts an early 10-6 lead in the second set. Greene put down his fourth kill of the set keeping the Matadors within striking distance at 11-8. But four straight UCI points pushed the lead back to seven at 15-8 and forcing CSUN into its final timeout.

The UCI lead was as many as nine before the Matadors, who hit .103 in the frame, made a late run to make the final margin 25-18.

The final set went back and forth as CSUN grabbed its first lead of the night (12-11) when Byers and Kalchev teamed up to stuff an Anteater swing. CSUN maintained a one-point lead at 19-18 when Byers slammed down a UCI overpass but the Anteaters engineered a 5-3 run to take the lead for good 23-21.

CSUN then took advantage of a pair of UCI miscues to knot the score at 23-23. An ensuing kill by Tamir Hershko set the Anteaters up with set point and O'Gorman's attack landed just long giving UCI the 25-23 win.

Hershko led UC Irvine (10-18, 7-14) with a match-high 14 kills (.458) while Saeta added 10 kills (.471).

CSUN closes the 2016 season Saturday as the Matadors travel to La Jolla to take on UC San Diego at 7 p.m.

#GoMatadors