Greene Powers No. 14 CSUN Past No. 5 UCLA

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NORTHRIDGE, CA - Junior Arvis Greene pounded a match-high 25 kills to lead the 14th-ranked CSUN Matadors to a five-set upset win over No. 5 UCLA Wednesday in an MPSF match at Pauley Pavilion.

Set scores were 20-25, 25-21, 20-25, 25-23, 15-9 as CSUN improved to 10-5 overall and 3-5 in the MPSF. The loss drops UCLA to 10-5 overall and 7-4 in conference play.

Greene, who set a career-high with 26 kills against Stanford on Feb. 3, came within one kill of equaling that total against the Bruins while hitting .449 on 49 swings. The junior opposite also added a career-high seven digs to go with three blocks and one ace.

"We came ready to play tonight, mentally we were very focused," said CSUN head coach Jeff Campbell. "I was really impressed with Arvis again tonight, he wants to win and he ports forth the effort to be successful. I thought Schylar also had a real nice match both setting and serving."

In his first start of the season at setter, redshirt freshman Schylar Lillethorup recorded the Matadors' first double-double of the season with 41 assists and 10 digs while also serving a season-high four aces. Sophomore Dimitar Kalchev added seven kills and three aces to up his season total to 38 while junior Josiah Byers also had seven kills on .545 hitting to go with three blocks.

Sophomore Eric Chance spearheaded a solid blocking effort by the Matadors who recorded 12.5 team blocks. Chance, who also had five kills on eight errorless swings, shattered his career-high with nine total blocks including four solo stuffs as CSUN posted its second-best blocking match of the season.

CJ Suarez aided the Matador defensive effort by scooping up a match-high 12 digs as CSUN out-dug the Bruins 44-39.

The Matadors got out to a great start in the opening set, leading 10-1 after the first 11 points. But the hosts would put together an 8-1 run to pull within 11-9 and eventually took a 19-18 lead on a Mitch Stahl ace. After a Greene kill tied the score, UCLA closed the set on a 6-1 run to take the set 25-20.

CSUN led by as many as four points in the second set and then had to hold on when the Bruins battled back to forge a 20-20 tie. But three kills from Greene, who had eight in the set, along with a pair of UCLA miscues sent the Matadors to the 25-21 win.

UCLA then won the third set by the score of 25-20 and the Matadors held off another late UCLA charge to win the fourth 25-23 setting up the decisive fifth set.

Similar to the opening set, CSUN bolted out to a 6-0 lead behind Lillethorup's serving. A UCLA hitting error kept the Matadors up by seven at 9-2 when the hosts mounted a rally to get within 9-5. Following a CSUN timeout, kills from Greene and Byers all but clinched the win as the Matador lead did not dip below five points the rest of the way.

Dylan Missry led UCLA with 21 kills on .390 hitting while JT Hatch added 12 kills and two aces.

CSUN closes out a four-match road swing Friday as the Matadors travel to No. 12 UC Santa Barbara. First serve at Rob Gym is scheduled for 7 p.m.

#GoMatadors

Greene Powers No. 14 CSUN Past No. 5 UCLA

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Team Stats

Arvis Greene

Dimitar Kalchev

Josiah Byers

Eric Chance

Players Mentioned

Josiah Byers

Eric Chance

Dimitar Kalchev

CJ Suarez