Matadors Drop Heartbreaker to No. 9 Pepperdine

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NORTHRIDGE, CA - In a match both teams desperately needed, the ninth-ranked Pepperdine Waves held off 14th-ranked CSUN in a key MPSF match Wednesday at The Matadome.

The visiting Waves (7-9, 5-8) took the final two sets to pull out a 22-25, 25-16, 21-25, 25-21, 15-12 win and move one-half game ahead of the Matadors (12-11, 5-9) in the MPSF standings. With four matches remaining, CSUN is now tied with UC Santa Barbara and USC for the eighth and final spot in the MSPF Tournament.

"I'll say this about our team, we played hard and we never gave up," said CSUN head coach Jeff Campbell. "When some of these matches have gone to a fifth set, I think our guys are trying so hard that were changing the way we play but we are getting better. Now we've got to bounce back against a good Long Beach State team on Friday."

Junior Arvis Greene led the Matadors with 21 kills (.310) while also setting a career-high with eight digs. Sophomore Dimitar Kalchev added 20 kills (.286) to go with seven digs, five blocks and two aces which tied him with Eric Vance for the single season CSUN record with 57.

Schylar Lillethorup chipped in six kills while Josiah Byers and Eric Chance each added five kills with Byers also matching his career-high with nine blocks. Setter Sam Porter finished the night with 45 assists, four digs and three blocks.

The visiting Waves held a slight advantage in hitting, .303-.274 but had seven aces to the Matadors' three. Both teams blocked well with Pepperdine posting 13.0 team blocks to CSUN's 12.0.

The Matadors hit a combined .464 in the two sets they won but just .118 in the three sets they dropped.

After taking a two sets to one lead following a 25-21 win in set three, CSUN looked to be in control of set four leading 16-13 after a Byers kill. But Pepperdine rallied for four straight points and led until Greene connected giving the Matadors a 20-19 lead. But the visitors dominated the final stages of the set, outscoring CSUN 6-1 down the stretch to force a fifth set.

In the fifth, Pepperdine claimed three of the first four points and never trailed. The Matadors pulled even at 3-3 and again at 4-4 but could never take the lead. After a Noah Dyer kill gave the Waves a 10-7 lead, kills from Lillethorup and Greene cut the lead to one. Trailing 12-9, CSUN made one final push, rallying for three straight points, the last coming on a Kalchev kill before Pepperdine closed the match on a 3-0 run.

David Wieczorek led all hitters in the match with 23 kills on .487 hitting to pace the Waves.

CSUN wraps up the home portion of the 2017 schedule Friday night as the Matadors will honor seniors Jakub Ciesla and CJ Suarez prior to the match against top-ranked Long Beach State.

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Matadors Drop Heartbreaker to No. 9 Pepperdine

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Team Stats

Arvis Greene

Dimitar Kalchev

Schylar Lillethorup

Eric Chance

Players Mentioned

Josiah Byers

Eric Chance

Jakub Ciesla

Arvis Greene

Schylar Lillethorup

Sam Porter

CJ Suarez