California State University Northridge Athletics
California State University at Northridge
Purdue Fort Wayne
No. 10 CSUN Heads East to Face Two Ranked Opponents
1/16/2019 11:43:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
MATADORS THIS WEEK
MATCH #6:
No. 10Â CSUN Matadors (4-1)Â @ No. 13 Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons (4-0)
Friday, Jan. 18, 2019Â - 4:00 p.m. PT
Gates Sports Center (1,800) - Fort Wayne, Ind.
Live Stats
Live Video
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNMensVB
MATCH #7:
No. 10 CSUN Matadors (4-1) @ No. 14 Ball State Cardinals (2-3)
Saturday, Jan. 19, 2019Â - 4:00 p.m. PT
Worthen Arena - Muncie, Ind.
Live Stats
ESPN3
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNMensVB
FORÂ STARTERS
After getting the 2019 home season off to a successful start, CSUN men's volleyball (4-1, 0-0 Big West) returns to the road this week as the No. 10 Matadors travel to Indiana to take on No. 13 Purdue Fort Wayne and No. 14 Ball State. CSUN travels to Fort Wayne Friday at 7 p.m. (4 p.m. PT) followed by an hour-plus drive to Muncie to take on Ball State Saturday as part of the Don Shondell Active Ankle Challenge at 7 p.m. (4 p.m. PT).
Last week, the Matadors swept second-ranked UCLA in their home opener before using a season-high 12 players in a four-set win over UC Merced.
FOLLOW YOUR MATADORS ONLINE
Follow CSUN Matadors volleyball on-line at the official home of CSUN athletics, www.GoMatadors.com. All home matches will feature live stats and will be streamed live by the CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health via Big West TV. 11Â Matador home matches will feature a webcast with Darren Preston handling the play-by-play. For road matches, related links to the match, including for any live stats, audio and video, will be posted before the match on the men's volleyball schedule page of GoMatadors.com.Â
Fans are also encouraged to check the CSUN Athletics Department's official Twitter feed (@GoMatadors) and the volleyball-specific feed (@CSUNMensVB) for news and notes throughout the week as well as updates of matches in progress.
MATADORS UP TOÂ 10THÂ IN JAN. 14Â AVCAÂ COACHES TOP-15 POLL
After knocking off No. 2 UCLA and UC Merced to open the 2019 home season, CSUN moved up two spots to 10th in this week's AVCA Div. I Coaches Top-15 Poll released Jan. 14. The Matadors earned a season-high 98 points this week, up 47 points from the week one poll. CSUN has now been ranked in the AVCA Top-15 for 49 consecutive weeks and 249 of the last 275 weekly polls dating back to the 2002 season.
Long Beach State (5-0) received all 16 first place votes in the week two poll and are ranked number one for the third straight week. UC Irvine (5-0) moved up to second this week followed in the top five by Hawai'i (2-0), BYU (2-0) and Pepperdine (4-0). UCLA (4-1) slipped to sixth followed in the top 10 by Loyola-Chicago (3-1), Lewis (3-1), Stanford (4-0) and the Matadors (4-1). Ohio State (2-2), UC Santa Barbara (3-2), Purdue Fort Wayne (4-0), Ball State (2-3) and Grand Canyon (3-2) round out this week's top-15.
SCOUTING REPORTS
Purdue Fort Wayne: The 13th-ranked Mastodons (4-0) are unbeaten through four matches, winning in straight sets at Lees-McRae and Queens last week. Purdue Fort Wayne has yet to drop a set this season and are 2-0 at home with wins over NJIT and Princeton. Junior outside hitter Pelegrin Vargas leads the Mastodons, averaging 3.64 kills per set through four matches. As a team, Purdue Fort Wayne is hitting .350 while averaging 12.75 kills per set. Head coach Ryan Perrotte is in his fourth season at Purdue Fort Wayne and owns a career record of 37-53.Â
Ball State: The 14th-ranked Cardinals (2-3) opened the season with wins over Princeton (3-0) and NJIT (3-2) before being swept by No. 3 UC Irvine, No. 11 Stanford and No. 5 BYU over their last three matches. Junior outside hitter Matt Szews leads Ball State with 45 kills while freshman Kaleb Jenness averages a team-high 2.71 kps. As a team, the Cardinals are hitting .220 while averaging 11.24 kills per set. Head coach Joel Walton is in his 21st season and sports a career record of 378-212.
SERIES STORIESÂ
Friday's match is the 13th meeting all-time between CSUN and Purdue Fort Wayne with the Matadors winning 10 of the previous 12 matches in the series. The two teams last met in 2017 when CSUN won in four sets at the UCSB Asics Invitational in Santa Barbara. The Matadors last played in Fort Wayne in 2006.
Saturday's match is the 20th all-time between CSUN and Ball State with the Matadors holding a 13-6 edge in the series. The two teams last met in The Matadome in 2012 with CSUN winning in straight sets. The Matadors are 4-3 in seven matches all-time in Muncie, Ind.
ITTNER NAMED BIG WEST FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Redshirt freshman setter Taylor Ittner became the second Matador in as many weeks to be named Big West Freshman of the Week. After leading CSUN to a 3-0 upset over No. 2 UCLA and a 3-1 win over UC Merced, Ittner followed up Daniel Wetter as the conference's top newcomer. For the week, Ittner averaged 8.83 assists per set while leading the Matador hitters to a .364 hitting clip. Ittner helped CSUN to season-best .417 hitting clip as the Matadors recorded their first home win over UCLA since 2014.
KALCHEV CONTINUES TO CLIMB CAREER ACES LADDER, CLOSES IN ON 1,000 KILLS
With five aces against UC Merced and another two against No. 2 UCLA, senior outside hitter Dimitar Kalchev upped his career service aces total to 167. Kalchev, who leads the Big West and ranks sixth nationally with 15 aces, opened his final season as a Matador in sole possession of third place on the CSUN career aces list with 152. He now sits at 167 career aces and has achieved his career total in just 308 sets over three-plus seasons.
Kalchev, who broke Eric Vance's eight-year record for aces in a single season in 2017 with 63, holds down two spots in the CSUN single season top 10 as he also ranks 10th after serving 45 as a freshman in 2016. With a team-high 15 aces this season, he now trails Vance and second place by 14 aces and CSUN career leader Eckhard Walter by 16.
Kalchev is also fast approaching 1,000 career kills as he begins the week with 980. He would become the 15th player in CSUN history to reach 1,000 career kills and the first since Vance in 2009.
CSUN KNOCKS OFF NO. 2 UCLA
Wednesday's 3-0 sweep over second-ranked UCLA was not only the Matadors' first win over the Bruins in The Matadome since 2014 but it was also the highest ranked team CSUN has knocked off over the last three seasons. The Matadors also upset No. 2 Long Beach State in five sets on Mar. 19, 2016 behind 21 kills from Arvis Greene and 52 assists from Sam Porter.Â
KALCHEV CONTINUES TO CLIMB CAREER ACES
Senior outside hitter Dimitar Kalchev added eight service aces to his career tally after the opening weekend of the season. Kalchev opened his final season as a Matador in sole possession of third place on the CSUN career aces list with 152. He now sits at 160 career aces and has achieved his career aces total in just 302 sets over three-plus seasons.
Kalchev, who broke Eric Vance's eight-year record for aces in a single season in 2017 with 63, holds down two spots in the CSUN single season top 10 as he also ranks 10th after serving 45 as a freshman in 2016. With a team-high 10 aces this season, he now trails Vance and second place by 21 aces and CSUN career leader Eckhard Walter by 23.Â
MATADOR QUICK SETSÂ
• With 12 aces against UC Merced, the Matadors tied for 10th in school history for a single match. The CSUN all-time record of 17 aces in one match was set by the Matadors against Pacific on Feb. 19, 2009. Â
• CSUN's win over UCLA improved the Matadors to 30-12 (.714) all-time in home openers.
• Redshirt freshman middle Daniel Wetter has upped his team-leading hitting percentage to .458. Wetter hit an impressive .800 against UCLA and then hit .600 in limited action against UC Merced. For the season, Wetter has 36 kills (1.80 kps) and just nine hitting errors on 59 attacks while also leading the team in blocks with 20.
• Junior Ksawery Tomsia has already equaled his season totals in kills and blocks from 2018. In limited time over 17 matches a season ago, Tomsia had 56 kills and 12 blocks which he has already equaled after five matches.
• Domanik Stratford pounded a career-high 10 kills vs. UC Merced and Cole Chaffee also notched his first collegiate kill.
• CSUN is now 2-1 against ranked teams with wins over No. 2 UCLA and No. 12 Concordia-Irvine along with a five-set loss to No. 14 Grand Canyon.
LOOKING AHEAD
Following their two-match trip to Indiana, the Matadors return home to welcome a pair of Midwest teams to The Matadome. CSUN hosts No. 7Â Loyola-Chicago Jan. 18 at 7 p.m. before taking on No. 8 Lewis the following night, also at 7 p.m.Â
#GoMatadors
