Long Beach State Holds Off CSUN's Upset Bid in Five Set Thriller

LONG BEACH, Calif. - The CSUN Men's Volleyball pushed No. 3 Long Beach State to five sets before falling 16-14 in the decisive fifth set in a Big West Conference match Friday night at the Walter Pyramid.

By coming back to claim the final two sets in the 25-20, 16-25, 20-25, 25-21, 16-14 win, the Beach (18-4, 7-2) clinch the regular season Big West title. The Matadors suffer their first five-set loss of the season and drop to 6-14 overall and 1-8 in conference play.

KEY STATISTICS
• Kyle Hobus and Daniel Wetter combined for 37 of CSUN's 61 kills in the match as Hobus led all hitters with 21 kills (.317). Hobus completed his second double-double of the season by adding a season-high 12 digs to go with four blocks, three assists and one ace.
• Wetter continued his impressive hitting stretch over the past week as the middle added 16 kills on 24 errorless attacks to hit .667. Over his past three matches, Wetter now has 44 kills and just a single hitting error on 64 swings (.671). Griffin Walters added nine kills (.231) and two aces while Olumide Allen chipped in seven kills on .545 hitting.
• Ryan DeWeese served a season-high four aces for CSUN, one off of his career-high while Taylan Cook added nine digs.
• Setter Donovan Constable set a season-high with 47 assists while also posting two kills and two blocks.
• The Matadors out-hit the Beach .388 to .347 while also posting a 43-35 lead in team digs and a 6-3 edge in blocks. The Beach had a slight 10-9 edge in aces.
• Alex Nikolov and Spencer Olivier each had 19 kills to lead Long Beach State.

COACH JEFF CAMPBELL SAID
"That's the best we've played all year and everybody contributed in their own way tonight. We just didn't finish things off in the fifth set but we were right there. It was an incredible offensive night from both Kyle and Dan. The guys are feeling great about the way they played tonight but we'll have to bounce back and bring the same energy tomorrow night."

SET 1
Neither team led by more than one point until a Nikolov ace put the Beach up 12-10. After Nikolov served out keeping the Matadors within one, the Beach claimed two straight points to open up a three-point lead 14-11. Long Beach maintained a three-point (15-12) at the media timeout when CSUN won two straight, capped by a Ryan DeWeese ace, to close to within one at 15-14. But four straight Beach pushed the lead to 19-14. A Hobus kill kept the margin at four (19-15) when three straight points by the hosts all but sealed the set. Facing set point at 24-19, Wetter put down his fifth and sixth kills of the frame to save two set points before Long Beach connected for a kill giving the Beach the 25-20 win.

SET 2
The Matadors would not trail in the second set and would dominate in the latter stages behind a .667 hitting performance. After CSUN held several two-point leads in the early going, the hosts got a kill to pull even at 10-10. Kills from Lorenzo Bertozzi and Allen followed by a Beach hitting error opened up 13-10 lead. The Matadors would push the lead to four at 15-11 following another Wetter kill. The Beach used a kill and an ace to cut the lead to two before CSUN answered with three straight to lead 18-13. Behind three aces from DeWeese down the stretch, the Matadors pulled away for the 25-16 win.

SET 3
CSUN again led by two points early on before the two teams battled through 10 ties to reach 13-13. The score remained tied through 15-15, when a X and a Hobus kill gave the Matadors a 17-15 edge. A kill and ace by Walters opened up a 20-16 Matador lead before the hosts rallied back behind a 4-1 run to pull within 21-20. A Long Beach service error and a Wetter kill sent CSUN on a set-clinching 4-0 run as the Beach hit out on set point.

SET 4
Neither team held more than a two-point lead through the first 28 points of the fourth set when a Walters hitting error gave Long Beach a 16-13 lead. The Beach maintained a three-point lead at 20-17 when a Hobus kill and a Long Beach hitting error trimmed the lead to 20-19. But three straight points gave the hosts the margin they needed to claim a 25-21 win to force a fifth set.

SET 5
After the Beach claimed the first two points, the teams traded sideouts before the Matadors found themselves in a 7-3 hole. Another Long Beach kill forced CSUN to spend its final timeout with the Matadors down 9-4. Still down by five (10-5), A Walters kill fueled a 6-1 CSUN run that tied the score at 11-11 while forcing a Beach timeout. The Matadors would claim two of the next three points out of the timeout to lead 13-12 following a block by Constable and Wetter. A Beach kill evened the score before Walters connected for a kill giving CSUN its final lead of the match at 14-13. Long Beach would respond with consecutive kills before a Matador hitting error on match point sent the Beach to the 16-14 win.

UP NEXT
The Matadors and Beach will meet again Saturday night at CSUN's Premier America Credit Union Arena. The match will be preceded by senior night festivities with first serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.

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Team Stats

Kyle Hobus

Daniel Wetter

Griffin Walters

Olumide Allen

Players Mentioned

Olumide Allen

Lorenzo Bertozzi

Donovan Constable

Taylan Cook

Ryan DeWeese

Kyle Hobus

Griffin Walters

Daniel Wetter