California State University at Northridge
Vanguard
Matadors Host Vanguard Before Traveling to No. 7 USC
2/8/2022 3:54:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
MATCH #4
Vanguard Lions (5-1) at CSUN Matadors (2-1, 0-0Â Big West)
Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022Â - 7:00Â p.m. PST
The Matadome - Northridge, Calif.
ESPN+
Live Stats
MATCH #5
CSUN Matadors (2-1, 0-0Â Big West) at No. 7 USC Trojans (8-2)
Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022Â - 7:00Â p.m. PST
Galen Center - Los Angeles, Calif.
USC Live Stream
Live Stats
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNMensVB
FORÂ STARTERS
The CSUN Men's Volleyball team (2-1, 0-0 Big West) concludes a three-match homestand against Vanguard on Wednesday before traveling to seventh-ranked USC on Thursday. The Matadors, who remained unbeaten at home with a 3-1 victory over UC Merced last week, host the Lions of Vanguard at 7 p.m. before taking on their second ranked team of the season in the No. 7 Trojans at 7 p.m. at the Galen Center.
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 OPPOSITION
Vanguard (5-1) has won five straight matches since dropping its season-opener at Stanford on Jan. 21. The Lions swept Georgetown (Ky.) last week to improve to 3-0 at home. Vanguard is 0-1 on the road this season but is 2-0 in neutral site matches. Senior OH Matthew Roussin leads the Lions with 55 kills while sophomore Filippo Meoni averages a team-high 2.71 kills per set. Vanguard is hitting .293 as a team through six matches.
Series: Wednesday's match is just the second meeting all-time between the Matadors and Lions. CSUN won the first meeting between the two teams in straight sets in 2020, Vanguard's first season of men's volleyball.
No. 7 USC (8-2) dropped its second match of the season last Friday, falling at No. 3 Long Beach State (3-1). Simon Gallas, who led the Trojans with 17 kills against the Beach, leads USC averaging 4.24 kills per set. The Trojans, who are out-hitting their opponents .347-.248 this season, are a perfect 4-0 at home this season with wins over Princeton, Erskine, UC Irvine and UC San Diego. Â
Series: Thursday's match is the 80th meeting all-time between the Matadors and Trojans with USC holding a 46-33 edge in the series which dates back to 1980. The two teams last met in 2020 with the Trojans claiming a five-set win in The Matadome (25-20, 20-25, 20-25, 25-21, 18-16). CSUN is 12-20 all-time in matches played at USC.
NVA/AVCAÂ TOP-15 NATIONAL COACHES POLL - WEEK FIVE (FEB. 7)
After receiving votes in the first three national polls of the 2022 season, CSUN (2-1) did not receive any votes this week in the NVA/AVCA Top-15 (Feb. 7). The Matadors received a season-high 12 points in the preseason poll before receiving nine points in week one (Jan. 10) and seven points in week two (Jan. 17). CSUN was last ranked among the top-15 on Jan. 13, 2020 when the Matadors were 13th in the 2020 preseason coaches poll. 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.
Long Beach State (6-1) received 12 of 19 first-place votes and 274 points this week to take over the number one spot for the first time this season. UCLA (6-1) picked up five first-place votes and remains second this week followed in the top-five by Hawai'i (7-2), Penn State (7-3) and Pepperdine (4-2). Lewis (6-2) is sixth this week followed in the top-10 by USCÂ (8-2), UC Santa Barbara (4-3), Grand Canyon (6-3) and Ball State (6-1). The remainder of this week's top-15 includes BYU (6-1), Ohio State (4-3), Stanford (6-3), UC San Diego (3-4) and Lincoln Memorial (6-0).
WALTERS OFF TO A SOLID START IN 2022
Sophomore Griffin Walters continued his solid start to the season with a team-high 14 kills in CSUN's 3-1 win over UC Merced. Walters, who came into the season with a career hitting percentage of .169, has now hit .316 or better in two of the Matadors' first three matches (.323 for the season) highlighted by .423 clip against the Bobcats on Friday. In two career matches against UC Merced, Walters has hit .486 with 22 kills and just four errors on 37 swings. He also leads the team with five aces after serving a season-high three against the Bobcats.
MATADOR NOTES
CSUN continues the lead the Big West in opponent hitting percentage, limiting its opponents to a .135 hitting clip in three matches. The Matadors also rank second in aces at 1.70 aces per set ... Individually, Daniel Wetter and Luke Krzmarzick rank one-two in the conference in hitting percentage at .481 and .462 respectively. Krzmarzick also ranks third in kills per set at 3.83 followed by Walters at 3.00 which ranks ninth ... Kyle Hobus set a new career-high with three aces in CSUN's win over UC Merced ... Redshirt sophomore Jano Tello made his first career start against the Bobcats and matched his career-high with five kills on seven swings. Tello also had a pair of blocks which matches his previous career best ... Thursday's match at seventh-ranked USC marks CSUN's second match this season against a ranked opponent. The Matadors fell in their delayed season-opener at No. 2 UCLA. Last season, the Matadors played 11 straight opponents that were ranked in the NVA/AVCA Top-15 National Coaches Poll. Beginning the season with 12th-ranked UC Irvine, the Matadors faced No. 3 UC Santa Barbara, No. 13 UC San Diego, No. 1 Hawai'i and No. 7 Long Beach State in succession. CSUN capped the season with a 3-1 loss to No. 13 UCSD in the first round of the Outrigger Big West Men's Volleyball Championship in Hawai'i.
CAMPBELL PICKS UP 325TH CAREER WIN
CSUN's 3-0 win over Cal Lutheran on Jan. 28 was the 325th career win for CSUN head coach Jeff Campbell. In his 25th season at the helm of the program, Campbell now boasts a career record of 326-335 and 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 326 career victories.Â
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.
MATADORS IN THE BIG WEST Â
The 2022 season marks CSUN's fifth as a member of the Big West Conference in men's volleyball. The Matadors will 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.
LOOKING AHEAD
After wrapping up its three-match homestand against Vanguard, CSUN's match at No. 7 USC opens up a two-match road trip that will also send the Matadors travel to No. 14 Stanford on Feb. 18. The Matadors return to The Matadome on Feb. 23 to open another three-match homestand against Saint Katherine.Â
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