Thursday, January 27
Los Angeles, Calif.
7:00 P.M.
California State University at Northridge
0-1,0-0Big West
0
at
3
UCLA
4-0,0-0MPSF
1
2
3
F
CSUN
25
18
22
0
UCLA
27
25
25
3
Photo by: Steve Fitzgerald
CSUN Drops Season Opener at No. 2 UCLA
1/27/2022 8:43:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Playing its first match of the 2022 season, the CSUN Matadors fell in straight sets at second-ranked UCLA Thursday night at the John Wooden Center.
Set scores were 27-25, 25-18, 25-22 as the Bruins remain unbeaten at 4-0. The Matadors drop their season opener to slip to 0-1.
KEY STATISTICS
• Sophomore Griffin Walters led CSUN with 10 kills, hitting .350 on 20 swings. Walters also contributed three digs, two blocks and one ace.
• Kyle Hobus added seven kills (.250) and three blocks while Luke Krzmarzick and Ryan DeWeese each chipped in six kills apiece. Krzmarzick hit a robust .625 on eight attacks in his only set. Junior Daniel Wetter added six kills (.308) and Olumide Allen had a pair of kills on .667 hitting to go with one ace in his collegiate debut.Â
• CSUN debuted a pair of setters Thursday as redshirt freshman Lance Krenik earned his first collegiate start and posted 17 assists, four digs and a pair of blocks. Freshman Donovan Constable came on for the final set and had 12 assists and one block assist.
• The Matadors hitting improved in each set as CSUN wound up hitting .304 (36-12-79) for the match. After hitting .194 in the opening set, the Matadors hit .259 in set two before connecting at .524 clip in the final frame. Â
• Grant Sloane led UCLA by matching Walters with 10 kills. The Bruins hit .357 (38-13-70) as a team while also serving nine aces to CSUN's three.
COACH JEFF CAMPBELL SAID
"For us, tonight's match had a lot to do with just getting out there and playing. We needed to work off some of the rust since we haven't played an actual game since November. I'm very encouraged about the way we played. We got better every set so that's important and we'll turn the page and get ready to play at home tomorrow night."
SET 1
The opening set was the tightest of the match, featuring 10 ties and four lead changes. The Matadors led by as many as four in the early going as Allen's kill gave CSUN a 6-2 lead. The Matadors maintained a four-point edge at 9-5 following a kill from DeWeese and still led 11-7 following a UCLA hitting error. The Bruins rallied back behind a 5-1 run to force a CSUN timeout at 12-12. With the score tied 13-13, the Matadors put together a 3-1 run, capped by a Walters kill, to force a UCLA timeout at 16-14. Another DeWeese kill kept CSUN in front 21-19 when the hosts scored three straight to take the lead for good at 22-21. Down 24-23, a pair of Walters kills saved a pair of set points before DeWeese was blocked on set point giving the Bruins the 27-25 win.Â
SET 2
The Matadors dropped the first three points of the second set and would never lead in the frame. Trailing 8-4, CSUN pulled within 9-8 when Walters put away a Bruin overpass to cap a 4-1 run. An ensuing 6-0 run put UCLA comfortably in front and the Bruins still led by seven (17-10) before the Matadors used a 7-3 run to close to within three (20-17) following a DeWeese ace. A Hobus kill kept the deficit at 21-18 when UCLA claimed the final four points of the set.
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SET 3
The final set saw CSUN jump out to a 5-1 lead before the Bruins engineered a 6-2 run to even the score at 7-7. UCLA would score twice more before Walters ended the run with a kill keeping the Bruin lead at one (9-8). UCLA would then claim four of the next five points to extend the lead to 13-9 and CSUN would not get within three until the final stages of the set. With the Bruins holding match point at 24-19, the Matadors got kills from Krzmarzick and Walters followed by a triple block from Allen, Constable and Walters to erase three match points. But a CSUN service error on the next point sent UCLA to the 25-22 win.
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UP NEXT
The Matadors return to The Matadome for their 2022 home opener Friday night, hosting Cal Lutheran at 7 p.m.
#UniteTheValley
Set scores were 27-25, 25-18, 25-22 as the Bruins remain unbeaten at 4-0. The Matadors drop their season opener to slip to 0-1.
KEY STATISTICS
• Sophomore Griffin Walters led CSUN with 10 kills, hitting .350 on 20 swings. Walters also contributed three digs, two blocks and one ace.
• Kyle Hobus added seven kills (.250) and three blocks while Luke Krzmarzick and Ryan DeWeese each chipped in six kills apiece. Krzmarzick hit a robust .625 on eight attacks in his only set. Junior Daniel Wetter added six kills (.308) and Olumide Allen had a pair of kills on .667 hitting to go with one ace in his collegiate debut.Â
• CSUN debuted a pair of setters Thursday as redshirt freshman Lance Krenik earned his first collegiate start and posted 17 assists, four digs and a pair of blocks. Freshman Donovan Constable came on for the final set and had 12 assists and one block assist.
• The Matadors hitting improved in each set as CSUN wound up hitting .304 (36-12-79) for the match. After hitting .194 in the opening set, the Matadors hit .259 in set two before connecting at .524 clip in the final frame. Â
• Grant Sloane led UCLA by matching Walters with 10 kills. The Bruins hit .357 (38-13-70) as a team while also serving nine aces to CSUN's three.
COACH JEFF CAMPBELL SAID
"For us, tonight's match had a lot to do with just getting out there and playing. We needed to work off some of the rust since we haven't played an actual game since November. I'm very encouraged about the way we played. We got better every set so that's important and we'll turn the page and get ready to play at home tomorrow night."
SET 1
The opening set was the tightest of the match, featuring 10 ties and four lead changes. The Matadors led by as many as four in the early going as Allen's kill gave CSUN a 6-2 lead. The Matadors maintained a four-point edge at 9-5 following a kill from DeWeese and still led 11-7 following a UCLA hitting error. The Bruins rallied back behind a 5-1 run to force a CSUN timeout at 12-12. With the score tied 13-13, the Matadors put together a 3-1 run, capped by a Walters kill, to force a UCLA timeout at 16-14. Another DeWeese kill kept CSUN in front 21-19 when the hosts scored three straight to take the lead for good at 22-21. Down 24-23, a pair of Walters kills saved a pair of set points before DeWeese was blocked on set point giving the Bruins the 27-25 win.Â
SET 2
The Matadors dropped the first three points of the second set and would never lead in the frame. Trailing 8-4, CSUN pulled within 9-8 when Walters put away a Bruin overpass to cap a 4-1 run. An ensuing 6-0 run put UCLA comfortably in front and the Bruins still led by seven (17-10) before the Matadors used a 7-3 run to close to within three (20-17) following a DeWeese ace. A Hobus kill kept the deficit at 21-18 when UCLA claimed the final four points of the set.
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SET 3
The final set saw CSUN jump out to a 5-1 lead before the Bruins engineered a 6-2 run to even the score at 7-7. UCLA would score twice more before Walters ended the run with a kill keeping the Bruin lead at one (9-8). UCLA would then claim four of the next five points to extend the lead to 13-9 and CSUN would not get within three until the final stages of the set. With the Bruins holding match point at 24-19, the Matadors got kills from Krzmarzick and Walters followed by a triple block from Allen, Constable and Walters to erase three match points. But a CSUN service error on the next point sent UCLA to the 25-22 win.
             Â
UP NEXT
The Matadors return to The Matadome for their 2022 home opener Friday night, hosting Cal Lutheran at 7 p.m.
#UniteTheValley
Team Stats
CSUN
UCLA
Kills
36
38
Errors
12
13
Attempts
79
70
Hitting %
.304
.357
Points
48
52.5
Assists
31
37
Aces
3
9
Blocks
9
5.5
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
9
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's Volleyball
OPP
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's VolleyballOPP
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's VolleyballMB
/ Men's VolleyballCalHOPE Award Nathan Merren
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