Friday, February 4
Northridge, Calif. / The Matadome
7:00 P.M.
California State University at Northridge
2-1,0-0Big West
3
vs
1
UC Merced
1-1
1
2
3
4
F
UC Merced
9
15
25
18
1
CSUN
25
25
21
25
3
Team Stats
UCM
CSUN
Kills
31
44
Errors
24
14
Attempts
73
83
Hitting %
.096
.361
Points
39
62
Assists
27
36
Aces
4
10
Blocks
4
8
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
14
Aces
3
Blocks
1
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
7
Aces
1
Blocks
4
Kills
5
Aces
3
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's VolleyballOPP
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's Volleyball
Photo by: Steve Fitzgerald
Walters Paces Matadors in 3-1 Win Over UC Merced
2/4/2022 9:30:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - Sophomore Griffin Walters pounded a match-high 14 kills to lead the CSUN Men's Volleyball team to a four-set victory over UC Merced in a non-conference match Friday night at The Matadome.
Set scores were 25-9, 25-15, 21-25, 25-18 as the Matadors improve their season record to 2-1. The loss drops the Bobcats to 2-3 on the season.
KEY STATISTICS
• Walters led all hitters in the match with 14 kills, hitting a season-high .423 on 26 swings. The sophomore from Sacramento also tied for match-high honors with three aces to go with a pair of digs and one block.
• Luke Krzmarzick also reached double figures in kills with 10 as the redshirt junior hit .368 playing in three of the four sets. Freshman middle Olumide Allen had an impressive night in the middle, putting down a season-high seven kills on eight errorless swings to hit .875. Redshirt sophomore Jano Tello made his first career start and matched his career-high with five kills (.429) and a pair of blocks.
• Freshman setter Donovan Constable had 22 assists while leading the Matador hitters to a .417 hitting clip in his three sets. Kyle Merchen made his season debut in set three, posting eight assists and two digs while Kyle Hobus matched Walters with a career-high three aces.
• The Matadors wound up hitting .361 (44-14-83) to UC Merced's .096 (31-24-73). CSUN also had 10 aces to the Bobcats' four.
• Chris Morikawa had 10 kills over the final two sets to lead UC Merced.
COACH JEFF CAMPBELL SAID
"I'm very happy with the win tonight. UC Merced played very well at times so you have to give them credit. We had some guys hit very well but I think the difference tonight was our serving. We really took them out of system quite a bit which affected their hitting percentage. Griffin and Kyle played well and I thought Taylan (Cook) had a solid match at libero."
SET 1
With the score knotted at 2-2 in the early going, a Walters kill capped a 6-1 run that opened up an 8-3 Matador lead. Constable's first career ace opened up a 10-4 CSUN lead before a Walters ace gave the Matadors their largest lead (13-5) to that point. With CSUN holding a 17-8 lead, Hobus stepped to the service line and served six straight points as the Matadors opened up an insurmountable 22-9 cushion.Â
SET 2
After not trailing in the opening set, CSUN led from start to finish in the second frame. Three straight Matador blocks opened the set and CSUN led 9-4 following a UC Merced hitting error. A Walters kill opened up a six-point gap (12-6) before the Matadors led by as many as seven (14-7) following an Allen kill. CSUN maintained a seven-point lead at 21-14 before Constable's second ace of the night followed by a UCM hitting error and a Hobus kill sent the Matadors to the 25-15 win.Â
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SET 3
The visitors however would not go quietly as CSUN made several lineup changes in the third set. After hitting .474 to UCM's -.090 over the first two sets, the Bobcats would hit .417 to CSUN's .217 in taking the third set 25-21. After Allen's kill opened the set, the Matadors would not lead again as Merced opened up an 8-3 lead following a Colin Ryan kill. The Matadors would use a 6-2 run to trim the deficit to 10-9 following another Allen kill. But a 6-3 run by the Bobcats boosted the lead back to four at 16-12. Trailing 23-16, CSUN mounted a late run to pull within 23-20 but the Matadors would get no closer.
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SET 4
After dropping the first two points of the final set, CSUN claimed nine of the next 11 points to open up a 9-4 lead on a Walters kill. An Allen ace gave the Matadors their largest lead of the set at 16-9 and the CSUN lead was never less than four the rest of the way as a solo block from Krzmarzick sealed the 25-18 win.
                       Â
UP NEXT
The Matadors wrap up their three-match homestand next Wednesday (Feb. 9), hosting Vanguard at 7 p.m. before heading to No. 7 USC on Thursday (Feb. 10).Â
#UniteTheValley
Set scores were 25-9, 25-15, 21-25, 25-18 as the Matadors improve their season record to 2-1. The loss drops the Bobcats to 2-3 on the season.
KEY STATISTICS
• Walters led all hitters in the match with 14 kills, hitting a season-high .423 on 26 swings. The sophomore from Sacramento also tied for match-high honors with three aces to go with a pair of digs and one block.
• Luke Krzmarzick also reached double figures in kills with 10 as the redshirt junior hit .368 playing in three of the four sets. Freshman middle Olumide Allen had an impressive night in the middle, putting down a season-high seven kills on eight errorless swings to hit .875. Redshirt sophomore Jano Tello made his first career start and matched his career-high with five kills (.429) and a pair of blocks.
• Freshman setter Donovan Constable had 22 assists while leading the Matador hitters to a .417 hitting clip in his three sets. Kyle Merchen made his season debut in set three, posting eight assists and two digs while Kyle Hobus matched Walters with a career-high three aces.
• The Matadors wound up hitting .361 (44-14-83) to UC Merced's .096 (31-24-73). CSUN also had 10 aces to the Bobcats' four.
• Chris Morikawa had 10 kills over the final two sets to lead UC Merced.
COACH JEFF CAMPBELL SAID
"I'm very happy with the win tonight. UC Merced played very well at times so you have to give them credit. We had some guys hit very well but I think the difference tonight was our serving. We really took them out of system quite a bit which affected their hitting percentage. Griffin and Kyle played well and I thought Taylan (Cook) had a solid match at libero."
SET 1
With the score knotted at 2-2 in the early going, a Walters kill capped a 6-1 run that opened up an 8-3 Matador lead. Constable's first career ace opened up a 10-4 CSUN lead before a Walters ace gave the Matadors their largest lead (13-5) to that point. With CSUN holding a 17-8 lead, Hobus stepped to the service line and served six straight points as the Matadors opened up an insurmountable 22-9 cushion.Â
SET 2
After not trailing in the opening set, CSUN led from start to finish in the second frame. Three straight Matador blocks opened the set and CSUN led 9-4 following a UC Merced hitting error. A Walters kill opened up a six-point gap (12-6) before the Matadors led by as many as seven (14-7) following an Allen kill. CSUN maintained a seven-point lead at 21-14 before Constable's second ace of the night followed by a UCM hitting error and a Hobus kill sent the Matadors to the 25-15 win.Â
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SET 3
The visitors however would not go quietly as CSUN made several lineup changes in the third set. After hitting .474 to UCM's -.090 over the first two sets, the Bobcats would hit .417 to CSUN's .217 in taking the third set 25-21. After Allen's kill opened the set, the Matadors would not lead again as Merced opened up an 8-3 lead following a Colin Ryan kill. The Matadors would use a 6-2 run to trim the deficit to 10-9 following another Allen kill. But a 6-3 run by the Bobcats boosted the lead back to four at 16-12. Trailing 23-16, CSUN mounted a late run to pull within 23-20 but the Matadors would get no closer.
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SET 4
After dropping the first two points of the final set, CSUN claimed nine of the next 11 points to open up a 9-4 lead on a Walters kill. An Allen ace gave the Matadors their largest lead of the set at 16-9 and the CSUN lead was never less than four the rest of the way as a solo block from Krzmarzick sealed the 25-18 win.
                       Â
UP NEXT
The Matadors wrap up their three-match homestand next Wednesday (Feb. 9), hosting Vanguard at 7 p.m. before heading to No. 7 USC on Thursday (Feb. 10).Â
#UniteTheValley
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