CSUN Falls in Straight Sets at No. 7 Long Beach State

Saturday, April 17

Long Beach, Calif.

7:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

2-8,2-8Big West

Long Beach State

6-4,6-4Big West

Team	1	2	3	Final F
CSUN	23	23	18	0
Long Beach St.	25	25	25	3

Photo by: Steve Fitzgerald

4/17/2021 8:53:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

LONG BEACH, Calif. - One night after posting its biggest win of the year, CSUN came up short in its regular season finale as No. 7 Long Beach State swept the Matadors (25-23, 25-23, 25-18) in a Big West Conference match Saturday at the Walter Pyramid.

CSUN concludes the regular season with a 2-8 record (overall and conference) while the Beach improves to 6-4 (overall and conference). The Matadors can still potentially earn a No. 5 seed in next week's Big West Tournament depending on the result of the UC Irvine-Hawai'i match late Saturday in Honolulu.

KEY STATISTICS
• Freshman Griffin Walters led CSUN with 10 kills while hitting a season-high .375 on 24 swings. Maciej Ptaszynski added seven kills (.143) and one ace which gives the senior 92 career aces which ties him with Jason Hughes for ninth-place on the all-time CSUN list.
• Daniel Wetter and Cole Chea, season-long bright spots for the Matadors, were relatively quiet in the finale as Wetter had three kills on nine errorless swings (.333) and Chea had just two kills while hitting -.111.
• CSUN setter Kyle Merchen had 18 assists while matching libero Johnny Anselmo with a team-high six digs.
• After hitting .227 in Friday's five-set win, the Matadors were limited to a .143 team hitting clip (25-13-84) while the Beach hit .316 (38-13-79).
• Ethan Siegfried led the Beach with 11 kills while Simon Torwie came off the bench to put down nine kills on .471 hitting.

COACH JEFF CAMPBELL SAID
"I thought we looked like we played a five-set match last night, we were just a little bit off. They had some guys with fresh legs which made the difference. I still feel like we're doing some good things, we were right there in the first two sets but unfortunately our passing wasn't good enough tonight. I thought Griffin served tough and played as well as he has this season."

SET 1
The two teams played on even terms for much of the opening set as the score was tied seven times in the early going. After a Beach service error knotted the score at 10-10, the Matadors used consecutive Long Beach hitting errors to take a 12-10 lead. CSUN extended the lead to three at 20-17 following a Wetter kill and an ensuing ace by Wetter. A 3-0 run by the Beach out of timeout tied the score at 20-20 which forced a Matador timeout. The teams then traded sideouts until 22-22 when a Spencer Olivier kill sent the Beach on a set-clinching 3-1 run to wrap up the set 25-23.

SET 2
Long Beach bolted out to an 8-4 lead in the second set while forcing an early CSUN timeout. A 5-3 Matador run out of the timeout, capped by a Ryan DeWeese kill, trimmed the lead to 11-10 while forcing a timeout by the hosts. The Long Beach lead was never more than three until a Chea hitting error and a Long Beach block put the Beach up 20-16. But a Ptaszynski kill followed by a Walters ace and a triple block from Ptaszynski, DeWeese and Philip Barker forced a Long Beach timeout at 20-19. Two straight Beach points out of the timeout gave Long Beach the margin it needed as the Beach held on for the identical 25-23 win.

SET 3
The final set was equally tight at the outset as the two teams played to a 7-7 tie. Walters then committed one of 15 CSUN service errors in the match which sent the Beach on a 6-3 run which opened up a 13-10 cushion. A Long Beach hitting error temporarily pulled the Matadors within one at 14-13 before the hosts scored four unanswered points to open up an 18-13 lead. CSUN battled back to within two (19-17) on a Steven Rotter solo block but the Matadors would get no closer in falling 25-18.

UP NEXT
The Matadors will be either the No. 5 or No. 6 seed at next week's Big West Tournament at Simplifi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu. Check GoMatadors.com for updated tournament information as the seeds are set.

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