Photo by: Paul Trafecanty
No. 11 CSUN Sweeps NJIT at UCSB Asics Invitational
1/5/2018 2:28:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Senior Arvis Greene had a match-high 10 kills to pace another solid hitting effort by No. 11 CSUN as the Matadors swept the NJIT Highlanders, 25-20, 25-15, 26-24 Friday morning at the UCSB Asics Invitational.
After hitting .432 as a team in a 3-1 win over Saint Francis on Thursday, the Matadors hit .404 on Friday. After committing 14 hitting errors in the win over Saint Francis, CSUNÂ had just seven errors on 52 swings Friday.
Greene had 10 kills on 21 attacks (.333) to go with a career-high four aces and three blocks. Fellow senior Josiah Byers added four kills on .600 hitting along with four blocks while Ksawery Tomsia and Dimitar Kalchev each chipped in three kills with Kalchev recording a team-high five digs to go with three aces.
Junior setter Schylar Lillethorup had 24 assists, a pair of blocks and one ace as the Matadors hit over .400 for the second time in as many matches.
CSUNÂ posted nine team blocks in limiting NJITÂ to an .077 hitting clip.
"I thought we played really well in the first two sets but lost a little focus in set three but still managed to get the win," said CSUNÂ head coach Jeff Campbell. "The team played better today than we did last night but it's a long tournament and we still have one more to go tomorrow at noon."
The Matadors opened up a five-point cushion on a Kalchev ace which gave CSUN a 14-9 lead. The Matadors boosted the lead to 18-10 on a Lillethorup ace and despite the Highlanders trimming the lead to two late, an NJIT service error on set point gave CSUN the 25-22 win.
The Matadors dominated set two, hitting .600 to the Highlanders' -.267 in winning handily 25-15. With Byers serving, Eric Chance's kill of an NJITÂ overpass forced a Highlander timeout at 14-8 and CSUNÂ was never threatened the rest of the set.
The third set was the tightest of the match as the lead changed hands five times and featured 11 ties. After Kalchev's third ace gave the Matadors a slim 13-12 lead, NJIT rallied to take a 15-14 lead. Down 19-17, CSUN engineered a 4-0 run behind Greene's serving to forge a 21-19 lead.
At 22-21, the senior opposite's swing down the line went wide and the set was tied at 22. After a Matador timeout, Maciej Ptasynski put down consecutive kills setting CSUN up with match point at 24-22. The Highlanders saved a pair of match points before kills from Lillethorup and Greene ended the match.
Alvaro Rubio led NJIT (0-3) with eight kills (.222) while Piotr Namiotko added seven kills.
CSUN completes the UCSB Asics Invitational Saturday afternoon, taking on Princeton at noon at Rob Gym.
#GoMatadors
Team Stats
NJIT
CSUN
Kills
27
28
Errors
22
7
Attempts
65
52
Hitting %
.077
.404
Points
35.0
45.0
Assists
26
25
Aces
6
8
Blocks
2.0
9.0
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
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MVB vs. Stanford Highlights
Monday, February 20
A Conversation With Jeff Campbell
Thursday, May 28
National Student-Athlete Day 2019 - Ryan DeWeese
Friday, April 05