California State University at Northridge
Menlo College
CSUN Homestand Continues vs. Menlo, Cal Lutheran
1/22/2020 3:13:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
MATADORS THIS WEEK:
MATCH #6
Menlo College Oaks (8-0) vs. CSUN Matadors (1-4)
Friday, Jan. 24, 2020 - 7:00 p.m. PT
The Matadome (2,000) - Northridge, Calif.
Big West TV
Live Stats
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNMensVB
MATCH #7
Cal Lutheran Kingsmen (5-3) vs. CSUN Matadors (1-4)
Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020 - 7:00 p.m. PT
The Matadome (2,000) - Northridge, Calif.
Big West TV
Live Stats
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNMensVB
FORÂ STARTERS
The CSUN men's volleyball team (1-4) continues a six-match homestand this week as the Matadors welcome Menlo College and Cal Lutheran to The Matadome for non-conference matches Friday and Saturday respectively. Both matches are scheduled for a 7 p.m. first serve. CSUN dropped its first two home matches last week as No. 10 Purdue Fort Wayne swept the Matadors before Ball State knocked off CSUN in five sets.Â
FOLLOW YOUR MATADORS ONLINE
Follow CSUN Matadors volleyball on-line at the official home of CSUN athletics, www.GoMatadors.com. All regular-season home matches will feature live stats and will be streamed live by the CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health via Big West TV 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 DROP OUT OF AVCAÂ TOP-15 COACHES POLL
After being ranked 13th in the NVA/AVCA Div. I Coaches Top-15 Preseason Poll (Dec. 5) and receiving votes (7) in week one (Jan. 13), the Matadors (1-4) did not receive any top-15 votes this week. CSUN, which received a season-high 56 points in the preseason poll, had been ranked in the AVCA Top-15 for 68 consecutive polls and 262 of the last 290 weekly polls dating back to the 2002 season. The last time the Matadors were not ranked in the regular season Top-15 was Mar. 9, 2015 and the last time CSUN did not receive a single vote in the AVCA poll was Apr. 25, 2011.
Hawai'i (7-0) received all 16 first-place votes this week and are ranked number one for the third straight poll. BYU (6-0) remained second this week, followed in the top five by UC Santa Barbara (5-0), Long Beach State (4-0) and UC Irvine (3-1). UCLA (3-1) is sixth this week followed in the top 10 by Lewis (3-3), Stanford (4-2), Pepperdine (3-1) and Penn State (2-2). Purdue Fort Wayne (3-1) is 11th followed by George Mason (2-2), Princeton (2-3) Concordia-Irvine (3-2) and Loyola Chicago rounds out this week's Top-15.
SCOUTING REPORTS
Menlo College has won eight straight matches to open the season, defeating UC Merced (3-1), Siena Heights (3-0), Life (3-0) and Hope International (3-1) at its own Oak Invitational last weekend. The NAIA Oaks, who have yet to play a road match in 2020, are led by sophomore OH Edin Ibrahimovich who averages a team-high 5.04 kills per set on .426 hitting. As a team, Menlo is hitting .374 through eight matches.
Series: Friday's match is just the third all-time between the Matadors and Oaks with CSUN holding a 2-0 lead in the series. The two teams last met in 1987 at the UCSB Invitational with CSUN winning 15-4, 15-5. The two teams also met in the same UCSB Invitational in 1982 with the Matadors winning in straight sets.
Cal Lutheran is off to a 5-3 start this season after sweeping both Fontbonne and Vassar at home last weekend. The Kingsmen, who capped the weekend with a 3-0 loss to New York University, are led by senior OH Patrick Rowe who averages a team-high 3.63 kills per set, hitting .327 on 208 swings. The Kingsmen are hitting .256 as a team.
Series: Saturday's match is the sixth all-time between the Matadors and Cal Lutheran with CSUN yet to drop a set in winning the five previous matches. The Matadors are 4-0 against the Kingsmen in The Matadome.
WETTER LEADS NATION IN HITTING
After hitting .633 in matches against Purdue Fort Wayne and Ball State last week, redshirt sophomore Daniel Wetter took over the national lead in hitting this week. Wetter is now hitting .570 on the season with 52 kills and seven errors on 79 swings. Wetter is hitting 37 percentage points higher than UCSB's Keenan Sanders who ranks second among Big West players at .533. The sophomore middle has not hit less than .500 in any of CSUN's five matches this season and hit a season-high .667 (11-1-15) against Purdue Fort Wayne on Wednesday. Wetter hit a career-high .889 (8-0-9) in a 3-0 win over Cal Lutheran last season.
PTASZYNSKI OFF TO A SOLID START
Junior Maciej Ptaszynski is off to an impressive start to his third season at CSUN. A Big West All-Freshman Team selection in 2018, Ptaszynski ranks second to Kyle Hobus in kills (54) while also ranking second on the Matadors in kills per set (2.57). A career .271 hitter coming into the season, Ptaszynski is hitting a career-high .303 over CSUN's first five matches this season. The outside hitter from Gdansk, Poland hit a season-high .433 (15-2-30) against Ball State last week and also has a team-leading six aces this season. Ptaszynski also ranks second on the team this season in digs (35), digs per set (1.67) and blocks (14).Â
MATADORS HITTING .300 THROUGH FIVE MATCHES Â
After hitting .270 in a 13-14 season in 2019, CSUN is hitting a solid .300 as a team through five matches this season. The Matadors have hit .300 or better in three of their five matches, including a season-high .351 in Friday's five-set loss to Ball State. CSUN also hit .336 in the season opener against McKendree and .324 in a straight-set win over Benedictine Mesa. The Matadors have hit .300 or better in a season 12 times since 1988, setting a school record by hitting .358 in 1993.
CSUN IN THE NATIONAL STATS
As a team, the Matadors rank in the top-10 in the national stats in kills per set, averaging 12.76 as a team (8th) and in assists per set (11.67) which in 10th. The Matadors are also currently 12th in hitting percentage (.300), 15th in digs per set (9.10), 20th in blocks per set (2.07) and 27th in opponent hitting percentage (.265). Individually, Wetter not only ranks first in hitting but is also 48th in blocks. Kyle Hobus ranks ninth in kills per set (4.00) and 10th in points per set (5.00). Taylor Ittner ranks seventh in the assists per set (10.19).
CAMPBELL IN HIS 23RD SEASON AS HEAD COACH
In terms of wins and losses, Jeff Campbell has been the most successful coach at CSUN over the past 17 years. Campbell has posted 267 wins (nearly 16 wins per season) since the 2003 season which is quite an accomplishment considering the Matadors have annually played in the toughest men's volleyball conference in the country. He has a career record of 319-316 and is the all-time winningest coach in CSUN men's volleyball history. Having become CSUN men's volleyball's all-time winningest coach during the 2010 season, Campbell reached the 150, 200, 225 and 250 career milestone wins over the last 10 seasons. Currently, the second-longest tenured head coach at CSUN (men's golf coach Jim Bracken is in his 32nd season) Campbell has earned double figure win totals in 20 of his 22 seasons on the bench, posting a career-best 24 wins in 2009.
MATADOR QUICK SETSÂ
/// After a quartet of Matador players made their debut at the UCSB Asics Invitational, redshirt freshman Greg Pond made his CSUN debut against Purdue Fort Wayne. Pond notched his first two collegiate kills in two attempts against the Mastodons.
/// The Matadors had limited their first three opponents to a combined hitting percentage of .207 before Purdue Fort Wayne hit .357 and Ball State hit .364. CSUN opponents are now hitting .265 for the season, which dropped the Matadors from 13th to 27th in the national rankings.
/// CSUN dropped to 30-13 all-time in home openers after falling to Purdue Fort Wayne.
LOOKING AHEAD
Following matches against Purdue Fort Wayne and Ball State this week, the Matadors continue the homestand against Menlo (Jan. 24) and Cal Lutheran (Jan. 25) next week before wrapping up the homestand against USC (Jan. 31) and Princeton (Feb. 1). CSUN then returns to The Matadome on Feb. 14 to host UC Merced.Â
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