California State University at Northridge
The Master's University
CSUN Continues Homestand vs. The Master's and Menlo College
1/18/2023 9:37:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
MATADORS THIS WEEK
MATCH #5:
The Master's Mustangs (0-0) at CSUN Matadors (2-2)
Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023Â - 7:00Â p.m. PT
Premier America Credit Union Arena - Northridge, Calif.
ESPN+
Live Stats
MATCH #6:
Menlo College Oaks (0-0) at CSUN Matadors (2-2)
Friday, Jan. 20, 2023Â - 7:00Â p.m. PT
Premier America Credit Union Arena - Northridge, Calif.
ESPN+
Live Stats
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNMensVB
FORÂ STARTERS
After sweeping Cal Lutheran in its 2023 home opener last week, the CSUN men's volleyball team (2-2, 0-0 Big West) continues its seven-match homestand this week, welcoming The Master's University (0-0) and Menlo College (0-0) to Premier America Credit Union Arena. The Matadors host the Mustangs Wednesday at 7 p.m. before taking on the Oaks Friday at 7 p.m.
FOLLOW YOUR MATADORS ONLINE
All Matador home matches this season will be streamed live on the ESPN+ platform with Darren Preston handling a majority of the play-by-play this season. 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.
NVA/AVCAÂ TOP-15 NATIONAL COACHES POLL - JAN. 16
After receiving votes in the first two polls of the 2023 season, CSUN (2-2) did not receive any votes in this week's NVA/AVCA Men's Division I-II Coaches poll (Jan. 16). The Matadors, who received a season-high nine points in the preseason poll on Jan. 2, were 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.
Hawai'i (0-0) is the top ranked team for the third straight poll, collecting all 22 first-place votes and 330 total points. UCLA (4-0) is second with 307 total points followed in the top five by Long Beach State (2-0), Penn State (4-0) and Pepperdine (3-0). Ball State (0-2) remains sixth this week, followed in the top-10 by UC Irvine (3-0), Stanford (4-0), Grand Canyon (4-0) and USC (4-1). The remainder of the week two top-15 includes Loyola-Chicago (3-0), UC Santa Barbara (1-4), BYU (2-0), Ohio State (2-2) and Lewis (3-2).
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
The Master's University (0-0) opens its 2023 season on Friday (Jan. 27) at Grand View University. The Mustangs have played a series of exhibition matches (Pepperdine - L, 3-0), Emmanuel W, 3-0) which culminates Wednesday in Northridge. The Master's and CSUN will be meeting for the first time in men's volleyball on Wednesday.
Menlo College (0-0) opens its 2023 season Wednesday at UC San Diego. The three-match road swing also takes the Oaks to Concordia-Irvine on Thursday (Jan. 19) and Northridge on Friday. Menlo, located in Atherton, California, is an NAIA program that competes in the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) along with Arizona Christian, Hope International, Ottawa (Arizona), The Master's, and Vanguard. The Oaks knocked off the Matadors in four sets in Northridge in 2020.
CSUN IN HOME OPENERS
After sweeping Cal Lutheran last Friday, the Matadors improved to an impressive 33-13 (.717) all-time in home openers dating back to 1977. CSUN has won its last two home openers over the Kingsmen (2022, 2023) and has now won three straight and 11 of its last 12 home openers dating back to the 2012 season. The only loss in that stretch came against Purdue Fort Wayne in 2020.
MATADOR SET SEASON-HIGHS IN WIN OVER CAL LUTHERAN
CSUN set a series of season-highs in its three-set home opening win over Cal Lutheran. The Matadors set a season-high with 41 kills while hitting .472 on 72 swings. CSUN also had 39 assists, 22 digs and 9.5 blocks which were all season-highs. On his birthday, freshman Malcolm King had his first two collegiate aces in the win, two of CSUN's seven in the match.
CSUN IN THE MIDST OF SEVEN-MATCH HOMESTAND
The Matadors' two matches this week against The Master's and Menlo mark the second and third of CSUN's seven-match homestand. Originally an eight-match homestand, the schedule was revised after the Jan. 12 match against Edward Waters was canceled earlier in the week. The seven-match homestand, which concludes against Stanford on Feb. 3, is the longest since 2012 when the Matadors finished 5-4 on a nine-match homestand from Feb, 29-Mar. 24. The program record for consecutive home matches is 11 straight from Feb. 4-Mar. 17, 2004 when the Matadors finished 8-3. CSUN also had a seven-match homestand in 2009 (finished 7-1) and a trio of six-match homestands in 1980, 2003 and 2020.
CSUN QUICK SETS Â
Redshirt junior Kyle Hobus is off to a solid start in 2023. Hobus is averaging a team-high 3.75 kills per set while hitting .337 on a team-leading 92 attacks ... Redshirt sophomore has made the most of his two starts this season, hitting .500 on 28 swings. Merren connected for a career-high 10 kills without an error on 14 attacks against Cal Lutheran to hit .714. He also picked up a season-high seven digs and three blocks in the win. For the season, Merren is now hitting .500 on 28 swings while averaging 2.00 kills per set on the right side ... The Matadors have played three sets in all four matches so far in 2023. After dropping straight-set decisions to No. 2 UCLA and No. 10 USC to open the season, CSUN has posted sweeps over both Lincoln Memorial and Cal Lutheran ... The Matadors are out-hitting their opponents by 71 percentage points through four matches (.272 to .201). CSUN jumped from .205 team hitting to .272 this week which ranks tied for fourth in the Big West. Also this week, CSUN ranks second in a trio categories; opponent hitting percentage (.201), blocks (2.42 per set) and aces (2.00 per set). In 12 sets this season, the Matadors have 24 aces which is second only to UC San Diego which has 26 aces in 23 sets played.
MATADORS IN THE BIG WEST Â
2023 marks CSUN's sixth season as a member of the Big West in men's volleyball. Since the conference's inaugural season in 2018, the Matadors are 12-38 (.240) in 50 Big West matches over their first five seasons. CSUN finished 5-5 in the inaugural Big West season in 2018 before finishing 3-7 in 2019, 2-8 in 2021 and 1-9 in 2022. 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 the 2019, 2021 and 2022 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.
THEO EDWARDS NAMED CSUN'S MEN'S VOLLEYBALL COACH
Theo Edwards, CSUN's associate head coach since 2019, was named the successor to Jeff Campbell on Dec. 9, 2022. Edwards completed his 12th season on Campbell's coaching staff in 2022. He was promoted to associate head coach in August 2019 and served as the program's recruiting coordinator. He has been instrumental in CSUN's top recruiting classes over the last several years as the Matadors have brought in a host of AVCA Top 50 high school players. As a four-year letterwinner for the Matadors, Edwards had his finest season as a senior in 2010 as the Matadors reached the NCAA Tournament semifinals. He was the team captain of the squad that became just the second CSUN team, and first since 1993, to reach the NCAA Tournament.
LOOKING AHEAD
Following two home matches this week, the Matadors close out the opening month of the season against USC (Jan. 25) and UCLA (Jan. 27) in rematches from the opening weekend of the season in Santa Barbara. The USC and UCLA matches mark the halfway point of CSUN's seven-match homestand.
#UniteTheValley
