California State University at Northridge
12-7, 5-7MPSF
UC Irvine
12-6, 9-5MPSF
Matadors Drop Five-Setter to No. 6 UC Irvine
3/3/2017 10:17:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
NORTHRIDGE, CA - The 12th-ranked CSUN Matadors pushed the No. 6 UC Irvine Anteaters to the limit for the second time this season before bowing in five sets Friday at The Matadome.
Set scores were 22-25, 25-19, 25-16, 23-25, 15-13 as CSUNÂ slipped to 12-7 overall and 5-7 in the MPSF. The win, UCI's seventh five-set win this season, improved to Anteaters to 12-6 and 9-5.
Junior Arvis Greene posted a match-high 21 kills on .282 hitting while sophomore Dimitar Kalchev added 11 (.182) and junior Josiah Byers chipped in a season-high 10 kills on .600 hitting.Â
After hitting an impressive .737 in the opening set, the Matadors struggled over the next two sets before getting things back together in pulling out the fourth set. That set the stage for the decisive fifth set where the visitors were 6-0 coming in while CSUNÂ was 1-3Â Â Â
"I felt like we played flawlessly in the first set but we really struggled with our passing in the next two sets," said head coach Jeff Campbell. "I was proud of the way we regrouped and built some momentum going into set five but we made a couple of errors which turned out to be the difference. The fact that we're completing and fighting against a team like UC Irvine which has a lot more experience than we do, I am pleased with where we are as a team right now."
Both teams hit incredibly well in set one but CSUNÂ had enough left at the end as Greene's seventh kill of the set came on set point in the 25-22 win.
The Matadors then struggled to an .071 team hitting clip over the next two sets, falling by the scores of 25-19 and 25-16.
CSUN opened up an early 10-7 lead in the fourth set before the visitors came back to knot the score at 15-15. A Matador service error followed by an Anteater ace pushed the lead to 17-15 and UCI eventually led 19-16 forcing CSUN into a timeout.
Kalchev's only ace of the night capped a 3-0 CSUN run forged a 19-19 tie when a Matador hitting error followed by a UCI kill gave the Anteaters a 21-19 advantage. CSUN would score six of the final eight points to force a fifth set, 25-23.
In the fifth, back-to-back blocks put UCI up 4-2. The Anteater lead grew to 7-4 lead before Eric Chance's kill pulled CSUN back within one at 8-7. A Parker Maki kill tied the set at 12-12 CSUN but UCI outscored the Matadors 3-1 from that point on to pick up the road win.
Aaron Koubi had a team-high 20 kills to lead UCI while Tamir Hershko and Thomas Hodges each added 15.
CSUNÂ plays a rescheduled match at UC Santa Barbara next Wednesday (Mar. 8) before playing a pair of non-conference matches at Long Beach State next weekend.
#GoMatadors
