
Photo by: Paul Trafecanty
No. 7 Loyola Holds Off No. 9 CSUN in Four Sets
1/27/2018 2:12:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
CHICAGO, Ill. - After dropping the first two sets, No. 9 CSUN won the third but couldn't complete the comeback and fell at seventh-ranked Loyola-Chicago 26-24, 25-16, 22-25, 25-17) Saturday afternoon at Gentile Arena.
The loss, the Matadors' third straight, drops CSUNÂ to 5-3 on the season while the Ramblers improve to 6-2.
Senior Arvis Greene posted a match-high 20 kills for the Matadors in the loss, hitting .200 on a season-high 45 attacks. The senior opposite also added a pair of aces, three digs and a pair of blocks. Junior Dimitar Kalchev had a solid all-around match with 13 kills on .476 hitting to go with four aces, four digs and two blocks.
Kalchev's four aces snapped a tie with Kevin McKniff (2007-10), moving him into sole possession of third place in CSUN history with 125 career aces.
Junior Eric Chance added five kills (.273) and four blocks while Sam Porter came off the bench to hand out 29 assists and seven digs over the final three sets.
Both teams were strong offensively at the outset, hitting a combined .628 in set one. The host Ramblers, who hit .636, put down a CSUNÂ overpass to take an early 8-5 lead. Despite tying the score five times, the Matadors could never take a lead and again went down three (16-13) following a Jeff Jendryk ace.
CSUN, which hit .619, tied the score twice more before taking its first lead of the set, 20-19 when Kalchev and Josiah Byers stuffed a Loyola attack. CSUN hung on to a one-point lead at 21-20, 22-21 and 23-22 before consecutive Ramber kills put Loyola back in front 24-23. A triple block by Chance, Schylar Lillethorup and Ksawery Tomsia saved one set point but a Collin Mahan kill followed by a Loyola ace gave the hosts the 26-24 win.
After hitting .619 in the opening frame, the Matadors hit .040 in set two and never led in the set. After dropping six of the first seven points, CSUNÂ trailed by as many as 12 (19-7) and the Ramblers won going away 25-16.
Needing to win to have any chance of pulling the upset, the Matadors got one back in the third set. A co-block by Byers and Greene gave CSUN an 8-4 lead before the hosts rallied back behind a 7-3 run to knot the score at 11. The set was tied seven more times, the last at 19-19, when the Matadors got a Kalchev kill and a Chance-Greene block to take a 21-19 lead.Â
Kalchev's third ace of the set extended the CSUN lead to three (23-20) which turned out to be the final margin as Greene's kill capped a 25-22 Matador win.
Unfortunately a slow start to the fourth set again doomed CSUN's chances as the Ramblers opened with a 6-1 lead. Maciej Ptaszynski's kill pulled the Matadors within two at 8-6 but CSUNÂ would get no closer the rest of the way.
Ptaszynski's swing went long extending the Loyola lead to six (15-9) and after CSUN trimmed a nine-point lead down to seven (24-17), a Mahan kill ended the match.
Mahan led the Ramblers with 19 kills (.394) and was one of three Loyola hitters with double figures in kills.
CSUNÂ returns home to host UC Santa Cruz in a non-conference match next Saturday, Feb. 3 at 7 p.m.
#GoMatadors
Team Stats
CSUN
LUC
Kills
47
56
Errors
19
12
Attempts
102
101
Hitting %
.275
.436
Points
62.5
72.0
Assists
45
49
Aces
8
8
Blocks
7.5
8.0
Game Leaders
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