Matadors Upset No. 7 Long Beach State in Five-Set Thriller

Friday, April 16

Northridge, Calif. / The Matadome

7:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

2-7,2-7Big West

Long Beach State

5-4,5-4Big West

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Long Beach St.	25	18	27	31	14	2
CSUN	12	25	29	29	16	3

Photo by: Steve Fitzgerald

4/16/2021 10:51:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - Senior Maciej Ptaszynski capped a memorable senior night with a match-clinching ace to give the CSUN Matadors a five-set upset victory over No. 7 Long Beach State in a Big West Conference match Friday at The Matadome.

CSUN picked up its second win of the season in dramatic fashion as the Matadors improve to 2-7 overall and 2-7 in the Big West. The Beach, who had won two straight and five of their last seven, slip to 5-4 overall and 5-4 in conference play.

KEY STATISTICS
• Playing his final home match, Ptaszynski led the Matadors with 13 kills (.300) while also adding seven digs, three blocks and two aces. The senior from Gdansk, Poland served his second and final ace on match point which moved him into the CSUN career top-10 with 91 career service aces.
• Daniel Wetter and Cole Chea also reached double figures in kills for the Matadors as Wetter pounded 12 kills on 24 swings with a single hitting error to hit .458. Wetter also matched his season-high with five blocks in the win. Chea also had a solid hitting night in the middle, putting down 10 kills on 16 attacks to hit .438 with a pair of blocks.
• CSUN setter Kyle Merchen notched 45 assists, five kills, two digs and two blocks while libero Johnny Anselmo and Griffin Walters tied for team-high honors with 11 digs apiece. Walters narrowly missed his first collegiate double-double by adding nine kills.
• The visiting Beach, who came in ranked third in the Big West in hitting, hit .259 (64-27-143) as a team to CSUN's .227 (58-26-141).
• Spencer Olivier led all hitters in the match with 21 kills (.191) while Ethan Siegfried added 17 kills on .310 hitting.

COACH JEFF CAMPBELL SAID
"This is only our fifth week in league play so this win tonight is really a testament to us getting better each and every week. Long Beach State is an elite team and very well-coached so anytime you can compete against a team like that, and win is fantastic. I feel like we're moving in the right direction as a team and we hope we can play well again tomorrow night and carry some momentum into the Big West Tournament next week."

SET 1
The Beach dominated the opening frame, hitting .409 to CSUN's .091. Holding an early 5-3 lead, the visitors outscored the Matadors 5-1 over the next six points to open up a 10-4 cushion. After CSUN rallied back to within 11-7 following a Ptaszynski-Walters block, the Beach engineered a 6-2 run to push the lead to eight at 17-9. Two straight Matador points trimmed the lead to 17-11 but Long Beach outscored CSUN 8-1 the rest of the way to claim a 25-12 win.

SET 2
The Matadors turned the tables in the second set, hitting .407 to the Beach's .231 to even the match at one set apiece. Clinging to a slim 8-6 lead, a Wetter kill fueled a 4-1 Matador run which opened a 12-7 lead. The Beach climbed back within three at 12-9 when CSUN answered with a 6-3 run to open up a 18-12 cushion. The Matadors would lead by as many as eight points before settling on a 25-18 final.

SET 3
The third set was the tightest of the match as the two teams battle traded the lead seven times and forged 17 ties. A Chea kill followed by a Long Beach hitting error gave the Matadors set point at 24-23 when the visitors saved the first of four set points. With the score knotted at 27-27, Wetter's kill gave CSUN another swing at the set and Walters' kill capped a wild sequence giving the Matadors the 29-27 win and the two sets to one lead.

SET 4
Long Beach State took an early 5-1 lead in the fourth set, and still led by five (11-6) when the Matadors rallied. A Walters kill, followed by three straight Beach hitting errors tied the score at 13-13. Back-to-back kills from Clarke Godbold and Siegfried, followed by an ace from Shane Holdaway put the Beach up 17-14. CSUN pulled within one on three occasions before finally pulled even at 21-all when Holdaway's attack went long. The Beach claimed three of the next four to set themselves up with set point at 24-22. CSUN saved three set points before Ptaszynski's gave the Matadors match point at 26-25. The visitors answered with a kill and saved another match point at 27-26 when Long Beach claimed five of the final seven points of the set to claim a 31-29 victory while forcing a fifth and deciding set.

SET 5
The Matadors claimed four of the first five points of the decisive set, forcing an early Beach timeout. CSUN extended the lead to 5-1 following a Wetter/Walters block. The Matadors would lead by as many as five (7-2) before the visitors rallied back behind a 6-1 run. Following a CSUN timeout at 8-7, the Beach extended the run to 8-1 to open up a 10-8 lead. Kills by Chea and Ptaszynski knotted the score at 10-10 before the Matadors took the lead when Chea smashed down a Long Beach overpass. Long Beach tied the score on a CSUN service error and the score would remain tied at 12-12, 13-13 and 14-14 when a Merchen kill followed by Ptaszynski's ace sent the Matadors to the 16-14 win.

UP NEXT
The Matadors conclude the brief 2021 regular season Saturday evening, traveling to the Walter Pyramid for a 7 p.m. first serve.

#UniteTheValley