No. 13 Princeton Tops CSUN in Straight Sets

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - The 13th-ranked Princeton Tigers defeated CSUN in straight sets as the Matadors wrapped up a season-long, six-match homestand Saturday night at The Matadome.

Set scores were 25-18, 25-22, 25-21 as the visiting Tigers improve to 4-4 while CSUN slips to 2-7 on the season.

KEY STATISTICS
• Junior Maciej Ptaszynski led the Matadors with 11 kills, hitting .333 on 24 attacks.
• Redshirt freshman Kyle Hobus added eight kills (.000) and eight digs while serving one of CSUN's two aces. Fellow freshman Griffin Walters notched seven kills (-.125) and had the Matadors' only other ace. Another freshman, Greg Pond had a positive hitting night with five kills on five errorless swings to go with a pair of blocks.
• Sophomore setter Taylor Ittner posted 17 assists and four digs before freshman James McMillan came on in the final set to post five assists in his collegiate debut.
• The visiting Tigers out-hit the Matadors by the margin of .271 to .125 and also won the serving battle with eight aces to two for CSUN.
• George Huhmann and Jerod Nelson each had 10 kills to lead Princeton.

COACH JEFF CAMPBELL SAID
"Princeton is a very good team but the biggest difference is they have mostly seniors and they serve and pass very well. Our guys played hard tonight but our passing really broke down and we just gave up too many runs. We need to continue to get better over time, that's the most important thing and the guys feel pretty good about that. This will ultimately come down to the Big West season and conference tournament and winning isn't necessarily the most important thing right now but we have to be improving right now, and we're doing that."

SET 1
Both teams hit well in the opening set as Princeton hit .556 to the Matadors' .300. After a solo block from Hobus gave CSUN an early 2-1 lead, the Tigers claimed six of the next seven points to force a Matador timeout at 7-3. The lead swelled to six at 10-4 and CSUN was out of timeouts after taking its second. After a Huhmann kill gave Princeton a 17-12 lead, the Matadors scored three straight to cut the deficit to 17-15, forcing the Tigers into a timeout. But some tough serving by the visitors resulted in a 6-1 run which put Princeton comfortably in front 23-16. A Daniel Wetter kill cut the margin to six (24-18) before a Matador service error ended the set.

SET 2
Nelson connected for consecutive kills for the Tigers as Princeton opened up an 8-5 lead early in the second set. The Tigers extended the lead to four at 13-9 before CSUN used a triple block (Hobus/Wetter/Ptaszynski), a Walters ace and a Hobus kill to pull within one at 13-12. But three straight Princeton points pushed the lead back to four at 16-12, forcing a Matador timeout. CSUN cut a five-point deficit down to two (22-20) when Wetter put up a solo block but the Matadors would get no closer as the visitors closed the set on a 3-2 run to claim a 25-22 win.

SET 3
Neither team hit well in the final set as Princeton won despite hitting -.095 as a team. The Tigers claimed the first four points of the set and were up 5-1 after six points. Princeton led by as many as five (9-4) when CSUN put together a 6-3 run, highlighted by kills from Hobus, Ptaszynski and Walters, to close to within 12-10. The two teams traded sideouts until 18-16 when consecutive Matador blocks tied the score at 18-18. But a kill by Parker Dixon started a 6-0 Princeton run that all but sealed the set for the Tigers. Trailing 24-18, the Matadors saved three match points before Huhmann connected for his 10th kill to complete the sweep.

UP NEXT
The Matadors next travel to St. Charles, Mo. for a pair of matches against Lindenwood (Feb. 7-8) before returning home to host UC Merced on Feb. 14.

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Team Stats

Maciej Ptaszynski

Kyle Hobus

Griffin Walters

Greg Pond

Players Mentioned

Kyle Hobus

Taylor Ittner

James McMillan

Greg Pond

Maciej Ptaszynski

Griffin Walters

Daniel Wetter