CSUN Battles Before Falling in Four-Sets to No. 3 BYU

NORTHRIDGE, CA - The 14th-ranked CSUN Matadors fought for the second straight night but ultimately fell in four sets to the visiting No. 3 BYU Cougars in an MPSF match Friday at The Matadome.

Set scores were 26-24, 25-15, 22-25, 26-24 as each deuce game went to the Cougars.

The Matadors had three set points in the opening set only to see a more experienced BYU squad rally for five straight points to steal the 26-24 win. The Cougars dominated the second frame, hitting .435 to CSUN's .172 to win going away 25-15.

The Matadors were able to hold off a late BYU rally in the third as Arvis Greene came up with two huge swings as CSUN pulled out the 25-22 win. The Matadors looked to force a fifth set after bolting out to an early 8-3 lead in the fourth. But the visitors chipped away at the deficit, eventually forging a 16-15 lead.

Dimitar Kalchev's third ace of the match and a Josiah Byers kill gave CSUN its penultimate lead at 18-16 but BYU answered with a 3-0 run to re-take the lead. The two teams traded sideouts until the Cougars took a two-point lead at 22-20. Another pair of Greene kills evened the set at 22 when Brenden Sander's kill kept the visitors in front by one.

A Greene-Eric Chance block followed by a Sander hitting error set the Matadors up with set point at 24-23. But a Ben Patch kill forced extra points and Leo Durkin's ace gave the Cougars their first match point which they cashed in when Greene's swing down the line landed just wide.

"It came down to one or two plays tonight, but we were right there," said CSUN head coach Jeff Campbell. "We fought hard both nights and gave ourselves a chance to win so I'm pleased with our effort. Our inexperience showed a bit tonight but you've got top give them credit, that's a real good team and we played them tough both nights."

Greene wound up with a team-high 15 kills to lead the Matadors who slipped to 6-3 overall and 1-3 in the MPSF. Greene hit .244 on a season-high 41 swings and also added five blocks and two aces. Kalchev added nine kills (.250) and three aces which upped his season total to 25. Josiah Byers and Jakub Ciesla each chipped in five kills but CSUN hit a season-low .207 (41-18-111) in the loss.

Patch led BYU (6-1, 2-0 MPSF) with a match-high 24 kills on .415 while Sander added 15 kills (.226).

CSUN continues its season long homestand next week as the Matadors host Cal Lutheran and Hope International in a pair of non-conference matches (Jan. 26-27).

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CSUN Battles Before Falling in Four-Sets to No. 3 BYU

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Team Stats

Arvis Greene

Dimitar Kalchev

Jakub Ciesla

Josiah Byers

Players Mentioned

Josiah Byers

Eric Chance

Arvis Greene

Dimitar Kalchev