Matadors Fall in Straight Sets to No. 1 Hawai'i

Saturday, April 10

Northridge, Calif. / The Matadome

4:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

1-7,1-7Big West

Hawaii

13-0,8-0Big West

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Hawaii	25	25	25	3
CSUN	20	20	21	0

Photo by: Steve Fitzgerald

Matadors Fall in Straight Sets to No. 1 Hawai'i

4/10/2021 7:50:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - Cole Chea and Griffin Walters each had a team-high nine kills but the Matadors fell in straight sets to top-ranked Hawai'i, 25-20, 25-20, 25-21 in a Big West Conference match Saturday at The Matadome.

The visiting Rainbow Warriors, who wrapped up their first Big West Conference regular season title, remain unbeaten this season at 13-0 overall and 8-0 in the Big West. CSUN drops to 1-7 overall as well as 1-7 in conference play. Hawai'i also avenges a two-match sweep by the Matadors in the teams' last meeting in Northridge in 2018.

KEY STATISTICS
• Chea and Walters each had nine kills with Chea connecting at a .667 clip on 12 swings. The redshirt junior also added three block assists giving him 10.5 points on the night. Walters overcame a slow start to hit .286 on 21 attacks with one block.
• Senior Maciej Ptaszynski added five kills (.133) and five digs while matching Chea with three blocks. Ptaszynski, the Big West aces leader, added two more to his season tally of 14.
• CSUN setter Kyle Merchen posted 29 assists and four digs, while libero Johnny Anselmo scooped up a match-high eight digs in the loss.
• The visiting Rainbow Warriors hit .384 (45-12-86) as a team to CSUN's .229 (35-16-83).
• Rado Parapunov finished with a match-high 15 kills, hitting .407 on 27 attacks to lead Hawai'i. Guilherme Voss added a career-high nine kills, hitting at a .667 clip with three blocks.

COACH JEFF CAMPBELL SAID
"Even though we lost in three, I felt like we were right there in the first and third sets. The difference in winning and losing those sets boils down to experience and Hawai'i is a very experienced team. As a coaching staff, we know we're getting better and better each week so that's important."

SET 1
Hawai'i claimed five of the first seven points of the match to take an early 5-2 lead. Back-to-back kills by Voss boosted the lead to five at 9-4 before the Matadors mounted a rally. Still trailing by five (17-12), CSUN rallied for four straight points to close to within one at 17-16 following a triple block from Ryan DeWeese, Chea and Ptaszysnki. The teams then traded side-outs until Parapunov pounded three straight kills and the Warriors scored the final four points to take the opening set.

SET 2
The visitors used a 5-0 run, highlighted by consecutive aces from Colton Cowell, to open up a 12-8 lead. The Matadors cut the Hawai'i lead to one following a pair of Ptaszynski aces and a Daniel Wetter kill. But the Warriors responded with a 3-0 run to wrestle back a five-point advantage at 18-13 advantage. Still holding a five-point lead at 23-18, each team would score twice more down the stretch as the final was the identical 25-20 margin.

SET 3
The teams battled forged an 8-8 tie early on before the Matadors took a slim 15-14 lead into the media timeout. A Hawai'i co-block gave the Rainbow Warriors a two-point lead at 20-18 and following a Matador timeout, the visitors extended the run to 5-0 opening up a 23-18 cushion. Holding match point at 24-21, Hawai'i setter Jakob Thelle smashed down a kill to cap a wild sequence to complete the sweep.

UP NEXT
The Matadors conclude the brief 2021 regular season next week, hosting Long Beach State on Friday before traveling to the Walter Pyramid on Saturday. Both matches are scheduled for a 7 p.m. first serve.

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