California State University at Northridge
UCLA
Matadors Set to Open 2022 Season at No. 2 UCLA
1/26/2022 10:41:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
MATCH #1
CSUN Matadors (0-0, 0-0Â Big West) at No. 2 UCLA Bruins (3-0)
Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022Â - 7:00Â p.m. PST
John Wooden Center - Los Angeles, Calif.
Watch
Live Stats
MATCH #2
Cal Lutheran Kingsmen (3-3) at CSUN Matadors (0-0, 0-0Â Big West)
Friday, Jan. 28, 2022Â - 7:00Â p.m. PST
The Matadome - Northridge, Calif.
ESPN+
Live Stats
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNMensVB
FORÂ STARTERS
After seeing the opening three weeks of its 2022 season canceled due to COVID protocols, the CSUN men's volleyball team (0-0, 0-0 Big West) is set to open the season Friday at second-ranked UCLA (3-0). The Matadors and Bruins renew a rivalry that dates back to 1978 Friday at the John Wooden Center. CSUN's opening week continues Friday as the Matadors welcome Cal Lutheran to The Matadome for their 2022 home opener at 7 p.m.
FOLLOW YOUR MATADORS ONLINE
All CSUN home matches will be streamed live on the ESPN+ platform with Darren Preston handling the play-by-play. Fans can also follow CSUN Matador men's volleyball on-line at the official home of CSUN athletics, www.GoMatadors.com for related links to the match, including for any live stats, audio and video. Fans are also encouraged to check the CSUN Athletics Department's official Twitter feed (@GoMatadors) and the volleyball-specific feed (@CSUNMensVB) for news and notes throughout the week as well as updates of matches in progress.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
UCLA (3-0) is ranked second in the week's NVA/AVCA Top-15 poll after opening the season with three straight wins. The Bruins swept Princeton in their season and home opener (Jan. 15) before topping No. 11 Ohio State (3-2) and No. 3 Penn State (3-1) also at home. Ethan Champlin and Kevin Kobrine have combined for 52 kills over the first three matches to lead UCLA. Champlin averages 2.90 kps followed by Kobrine at 2.88. UCLA is hitting .328 as a team through three contests.
Series: Thursday's match is the 86th meeting all-time between the Matadors and UCLA with the Bruins holding a commanding 72-15 lead in the series which dates back to 1978. The Matadors dropped both matches to the Bruins in 2020, the last season the two teams met.
Cal Lutheran (3-3) has split its first six matches of 2022 heading into Friday's match in The Matadome. The Kingsmen are coming off a 3-1 win over Webber International on Jan. 22. Senior outside hitter Sean Fitzpatrick leads CLU with 50 kills (2.17 kps) in 23 sets this season. As a team, the Kingsmen are hitting .127 through six matches.
Series: Friday's match is the seventh meeting all-time between the Matadors and Cal Lutheran with CSUN yet to drop a set to the Kingsmen in six previous matches. The two teams met in Northridge in 2020 with the Matadors winning in straight sets (25-22, 25-18, 25-19). CSUN is 5-0 all-time against CLU in The Matadome.
NVA/AVCAÂ TOP-15 NATIONAL COACHES POLL - JAN. 24
Not having played a single point of volleyball this season, the Matadors (0-0) had nonethless received votes in the first three national polls of the 2022 season. CSUN received a season-high 12 points in the preseason poll before receiving nine ponts in week one (Jan. 10) and seven points in week two (Jan. 17). The Matadors did not receive any votes this week heading into their season opener at No. 2 UCLA on Friday. CSUN was last ranked among the top-15 in the 2020 preseason coaches poll (Jan. 13, 2020) when the Matadors were 13th. Prior to that, CSUN had been ranked in the AVCA Top-15 for 62 consecutive weeks and 262 of the last 289 weekly polls dating back to the 2002 season.
Hawai'i (4-0) received 14 of 19 first-place votes and 277 points this week and is ranked number one for the fourth straight poll. UCLA (3-0), which picked up one first-place vote, is second this week followed in the top-five by Long Beach State (4-0), Penn State (4-2) and Pepperdine (3-1). Grand Canyon (3-2) is sixth followed in the top-10 by Lewis (4-1), BYU (2-2), Ohio State (4-1) and USC (5-1). The remainder of this week's top-15 features Loyola Chicago (3-3), UC San Diego (2-1), Stanford (5-2), UC Irvine (3-3) and Ball State (3-0).
WETTER, MERCHEN NAMED ALL-BIG WEST
CSUN had two student-athletes named to the 2021 Big West Men's Volleyball All-Conference Team as Daniel Wetter earned first-team honors while Kyle Merchen was named to the All-Freshman Team. Wetter, who led the nation in hitting percentage for a portion of 2021, hit .442 which ranked third in the Big West and 12th nationally. Wetter, who was also a first-team All-Big West selection in 2020 and an All-Freshman Team pick in 2019, led CSUN with 110 kills and 26 blocks in 2021. He matched his career-high with 15 kills at UC San Diego on Apr. 3 and tied the single-match CSUN record by hitting .929 (13-0-14) in the Matadors' 3-1 win over UC Irvine on Mar. 21.
Merchen had a solid first season for the Matadors after transferring to CSUN from Santa Barbara City College. He ranked third in the Big West in assists per set at 8.93 while leading the Matadors with 366 assists. A solid two-player, Merchen also ranked second on the team in digs with 61 while averaging 1.49 digs per set. He had a season-high 49 assists at UC San Diego on Apr. 3 and posted 45 assists, five kills and two blocks in CSUN's 3-2 upset win over No. 7 Long Beach State on Apr. 16. Merchen became the fifth Matador freshman to earn Big West All-Freshman Team accolades after Maciej Ptaszynski (2018), Taylor Ittner and Wetter (2019) and Kyle Hobus (2020).
MATADOR NOTES
Heading into Thursday's season-opener at UCLA, CSUN is 26-18 (.591) all-time in season openers and 19-24 (.442) all-time in conference season openers. The Matadors are a more impressive 31-13 (.705) all-time in home openers and are 26-17 (.605) all-time in conference home openers ... CSUN welcomes back seven letterwinners from its 2021 roster while adding nine newcomers, including a pair of 2021 redshirts. In addition to Wetter, redshirt senior Cole Chea returns after ranking seventh in the conference and 19th nationally last season, hitting .346 (64-20-127). Chea hit a season-high .667 against No. 1 Hawai'i on Apr. 10 ... The Matadors will have to replace departed senior Maciej Ptaszynski who finished his CSUN career with 593 kills, 382 digs and 96 service aces. Ptaszynski's 96 career aces ranks seventh in program history and ties for sixth with Matt Stork in CSUN's rally scoring era ... The Matadors finished the 2021 season ranked third in the conference and 11th nationally in aces averaging 1.32 per set.
MATADORS IN THE BIG WEST Â
2022 will mark CSUN's fifth season of men's volleyball as a member of the Big West Conference. The Matadors bring are a record of 10-20 (.333) into their Big West opener Mar. 10 at UC Santa Barbara. CSUN finished 5-5 in the inaugural Big West season in 2018 before finishing 3-7 in 2019 and 2-8 in 2021. The 2020 conference season was not contested due to COVID-19. The Matadors reached the semifinals of the Big West Tournament in 2018 in Long Beach before falling in both the 2019 and 2021 quarterfinals in Hawai'i.
Prior to 2018, CSUN played 25 seasons as a member of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) from 1993-2017 and 16 seasons in the Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (WIVA) from 1977-92.
CAMPBELL IN HIS 25TH SEASON AS HEAD COACH
In terms of wins and losses, Jeff Campbell has been the most successful coach at CSUN over the past 17 years. Campbell has posted 273 wins (nearly 14 wins per season) since the 2003 season which is quite an accomplishment considering the Matadors have annually played in the toughest men's volleyball conference in the country. He heads into his 25th season as the all-time winningest coach in CSUN men's volleyball history with 324 career victories. Campbell become the program's all-time winningest coach during the 2010 season, reaching the 150, 200, 225 and 250 career win milestones over the last 10 seasons. Currently, the second-longest tenured head coach at CSUN (men's golf coach Jim Bracken is in his 36th season) Campbell has earned double-figure win totals in 20 of his 22 seasons on the bench, posting a career-best 24 wins in 2009.
LOOKING AHEAD
After this week's road match at UCLA and home match against Cal Lutheran, CSUN takes on Vanguard at home on Feb. 9 before traveling to the Galen Center for a Feb. 10 match at USC.Â
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