Top-Ranked Long Beach State Tops Matadors in Three

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - Three tightly contested sets all went to Long Beach State as the top-ranked 49ers swept No. 12 CSUN 25-22, 25-23, 25-20 in the Big West opener for both teams Friday night at The Matadome.

The win keeps Long Beach State unbeaten at 15-0 overall and 1-0 in the Big West while the loss drops the Matadors to 8-6 overall and 0-1 in conference.

Senior Arvis Greene matched the 49er hitters kill for kill throughout as he led CSUN with 16 kills, hitting .323 on 31 attacks. Greene also added eight digs, two blocks and one ace.

"Arvis hit .323 but I still think he could probably have hit .400, he had a couple of poor swings towards the end," said Matador head coach Jeff Campbell. "But he's getting better. His serving was better tonight, his defense was better and his blocking was better.

"Ultimately it doesn't matter how well we do right now, what matters is that we're getting better week to week and keep building towards the Big West Tournament in April."

Junior Dimitar Kalchev added eight kills (.120) and one ace while Josiah Byers and Maciej Ptaszynski each chipped in five kills, Byers hitting .556 with three blocks.

Sam Porter handed out 36 assists to go with one ace and Emmett Enriques had a team-high seven digs.

CSUN played from behind for much of the night, beginning in set one when the visitors took a 3-0 lead. After trailing by as many as six (10-4), the Matadors battled back to within two at 20-18 following a Greene kill.

A TJ DeFalco kill following a 49er timeout pushed the lead back to three and Long Beach still led by three at 24-21. Greene's eighth kill of the set saved one set point but Kyle Ensing connected on the ensuing point to seal the 25-22 win.

After scoring on the first play of set two, CSUN would not lead again but did manage to knot the score at 23 late in the set. Ensing's hitting error capped a late 3-0 Matador run that tied the score, but kills from DeFalco and Ensing gave the Beach at two set lead.

A block by Ptaszynski and Eric Chance gave CSUN its largest lead (4-1) early in the third set. CSUN still hung on to a 9-7 lead when the 49ers rallied for four straight points to force a Matador timeout at 11-9.

Trailing 17-13, CSUN mounted a pair of late rallies to get within one at 17-16 and again at 19-18. But following a 49er timeout, the visitors took advantage of an Ensing kill and a Ptaszynski hitting error to give them the margin they needed to take a 25-20 decision.

Ensing's match-high 18 kills led Long Beach State while DeFalco added 11 kills on .364 hitting.

The same two teams close out the season series Sunday night at the Walter Pyramid. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.

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Top-Ranked Long Beach State Tops Matadors in Three

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Team Stats

Arvis Greene

Dimitar Kalchev

Maciej Ptaszynski

Josiah Byers

Players Mentioned

Josiah Byers

Eric Chance

Emmett Enriques

Arvis Greene

Dimitar Kalchev

Sam Porter

Maciej Ptaszynski