Lindenwood Holds Off CSUN in Five Sets

ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Lindenwood overcame a two sets to one deficit and a career-high 15 kills from sophomore Daniel Wetter to knock off the CSUN Matadors, 3-2 in a non-conference match Saturday night at Hyland Arena.

With the five-set win (25-17, 31-33, 18-25, 25-21, 15-12), Lindenwood improves to 7-4 on the season while the Matadors drop to 2-9.

KEY STATISTICS
• Wetter hit .550 on 20 swings and with 15 kills, was one of three CSUN hitters in double figures. The sophomore middle also had two aces, five blocks and one dig.
• Fellow sophomore Paul Rzepnieski connected for a season-high 10 kills, hitting .615 on 13 attacks. Junior Maciej Ptaszynski also had 10 kills (.231) while adding a match-high 11 digs for his fourth career double-double.
• Steven Rotter and Luke Krzmarzick each came off the bench to put down seven and six kills respectively while setter Taylor Ittner handed out 45 assists to go with three digs.
• The Matadors were out-hit by the host Lions .293 (56-22-116) to .221 (54-27-122) as AJ Lewis led all hitters in the match with 17 kills (.231) to lead Lindenwood.

COACH JEFF CAMPBELL SAID
"We're competing with everybody, it's just unfortunate that we keep coming out on the short end. Part of the process in getting better is learning how to win. I thought we played with great effort tonight which is all you can ask for as a coach; we just didn't execute down the stretch. We're a young and inexperienced team but we're working hard and continuing to get better each and every match."

SET 1
CSUN trailed by as many as six points (11-5) before closing to within one at 14-13 following a Kyle Hobus kill. CSUN remained within one at 16-15 following a Rzepniewski kill before the Lions scored three straight to open up a 19-16 cushion. The Lions pushed the lead to four at 21-17 forcing CSUN into its final timeout. Negron then served out the set as Lindenwood claimed the final four points in a 25-17 win.

SET 2
CSUN led by as many as two points during the second set before Wetter's ace put the Matadors in front 18-15. The CSUN lead grew to four (23-19) following a Lion hitting error but Lindenwood answered with a 3-0 run to cut the lead to 23-22. Ptaszynski's kill set the Matadors up with set point at 24-22 but Lindenwood saved three set points before having a swing at the set at 27-26. Two straight Lion miscues gave CSUN yet another set point at 28-27 before another two-point swing put Lindenwood on top 29-28. CSUN had two more chances at the set at 30-29 and 31-30 when Wetter slammed down a kill on set point to seal the 33-31 win.

SET 3
With the score tied at 12, CSUN rolled off a 7-1 run top open up a 19-13 cushion. The hosts got within five at 21-16 when a Ptaszynski kill fueled a 4-2 Matador run to give CSUN a 25-18 victory.

SET 4
Undeterred, the Lions jumped out to a 9-4 lead in the fourth set and despite the Matadors pulling within one on a pair of occasions, never trailed in the set. Trailing 16-15, CSUN surrendered a 4-1 run that put the Lions comfortably in front 20-16. Three points would be as close as the Matadors would get down the stretch before a Lewis kill sent Lindenwood to the 25-21 win.

SET 5
The Matadors trailed by two in the early stages of the final set when a Lion service error and an Ittner kill pulled CSUN even at 10-10. The score was tied at 11 and again at 12 when the hosts claimed the final three points of the match to seal the Matadors' fifth five-set loss this season.

UP NEXT
The Matadors return to Northridge to open up a three-match homestand Friday against UC Merced at 4 p.m. .

#UniteTheValley

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Team Stats

Daniel Wetter

Paul Rzepniewski

Maciej Ptaszynski

Steven Rotter

Players Mentioned

Kyle Hobus

Taylor Ittner

Luke Krzmarzick

Maciej Ptaszynski

Steven Rotter

Daniel Wetter