No. 13 Matadors Impressive in Straight-Set Sweep Over USC

Saturday, January 14

Los Angeles, Calif.

7:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

6-1, 1-1MPSF

USC

2-3, 1-1MPSF

Team	1	2	3	Final F
CSUN	25	25	25	3
USC	20	21	18	0

Photo by: Paul Trafecanty

No. 13 Matadors Impressive in Straight-Set Sweep Over USC

1/14/2017 8:34:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

NORTHRIDGE, CA - Senior Jakub Ciesla led another impressive hitting effort by No. 13 CSUN Saturday as the Matadors swept USC 25-20, 25-21, 25-18 in an MPSF match at Galen Center.

Ciesla put down a team-high 15 kills on 24 errorless attacks to hit .625 as CSUN hit .557 as a team to improve to 6-1 overall and 1-1 in the MPSF.

"We played at a really high level tonight; I was really proud of the offense," said head coach Jeff Campbell. "I can't remember the last time we hit this well in a conference match. We didn't play that well on Wednesday but tonight we really bounced back."

In addition to Ciesla, who also added a match-high four blocks, junior Arvis Greene pounded 12 kills (.450) and sophomore Dimitar Klachev added 10 kills on .692 hitting. Kalchev also matched his season-high with four aces giving him 20 on the young season. Junior Josiah Byers chipped in six kills (.714) and three blocks.

Sophomore setter Sam Porter continued to set the Matador hitters to impressive numbers as he recorded 38 assists. CSUN had 45 kills while committing just six hitting errors as a team. Defensively, senior CJ Suarez scooped up a match-high seven digs.

After USC tied set one at 12-12, Kalchev's kill propelled the Matadors on a 5-1 run which opened up a 17-13 lead, forcing a Trojan timeout. USC was able to get within two points on two occasions, the last at 19-17, before CSUN closed the set on a 6-3 run to take the 25-20 win.

The Matadors jumped out to a 7-3 lead in set two before a 5-1 Trojan run knotted the score at eight. Following a CSUN timeout, the Matadors found themselves down 14-11 after Lucas Yoder put down one of his 19 kills. CSUN still trailed by two at 19-17, but kills from Greene and Porter followed by a triple block gave CSUN a 20-19 and the Matadors would not trail again.

In the final set, a 3-0 USC run cut a 10-6 Matador lead to one. Another triple block, this time from Ciesla, Porter and Justin Toth, propelled CSUN on a 5-1 run that pushed the lead to five. The Trojans could only get within four the rest of the way and a USC service error on match point sent the Matadors to their first MPSF win.

Yoder's 17 kills led USC which dropped to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in conference play.

CSUN and BYU meet for the two matches beginning next Thursday, Jan. 19. The two teams cap the two-match set Friday, both matches are scheduled for a 7 p.m. first serve.

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