Friday, January 20
Northridge, CA
7:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
4-2,0-0Big West
3
vs
0
Menlo College
0-2
1
2
3
F
Menlo
22
21
17
0
CSUN
25
25
25
3
Photo by: Heidi Eligio
Matadors Sweep Menlo for Fourth-Straight Win
1/20/2023 8:54:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---Two Matadors were in double figures in kills as the CSUN Men's Volleyball team won in straight sets over Menlo College on Friday evening at Premier America Credit Union Arena.
With the 25-22, 25-21, 25-17 win, the Matadors improve to 4-2 on the season and have won four in a row. The match was an exhibition for the Menlo Oaks.
KEY STATISTICS
•Kyle Hobus led all Matadors with 11 kills while hitting .318 on 22 swings. Griffin Walters added 10 kills with just one error and hit .429 for the match. CSUN also picked up eight kills from Nathan Merren who hit .500 on 16 errorless attacks. Merren shared the team lead in digs with five.
• Donovan Constable registered a game-high 27 assists to go with five digs.
• Hitting .545 for the match, Jano Tello had seven kills on 11 swings while Jackson Payne chipped in with five kills on six attacks.
• CSUN hit .463 for the match and improved its attack percentage each set. After hitting .343 in set one, CSUN would hit .522 in set two before posting a .591 percentage in the final set. As a team, the Matadors had five blocks to Menlo's two. CSUN also had four service aces on the night.
• For Menlo, Edin Ibrahimovic had a match-high 17 kills to go with a .400 hitting percentage.
COACH THEO EDWARDS SAID
"I thought offensively we were really good. We hit .463 and played one of our better matches of the season so far. That's a testament to the setting which was very good. Our ball control I thought was really good overall. I don't know if the stats will actually show it but Taylan Cook did a fantastic job in reception and he was passing the ball incredibly well. Obviously, we had Griffin at .429 on 21 swings and Hobus at .318 so I'm super excited for those guys. And then Nathan Merren had zero errors for .500 on 16 swings. I felt from a defensive perspective, we were able to do some things we haven't been able to do all season. We were able to lock in with some of the schemes that we've been working on. It's nice that the hard work is starting to pay off for these guys."
SET 1
CSUN would give up the first point but never trail again in the opening set. The Matadors went on a 5-1 run to build an 8-4 lead as Walters closed the run with a service ace. Menlo trimmed the Matador lead to 11-8 but CSUN countered with four consecutive points to open their biggest lead of the set at 15-8. The Oaks though made a run late in the set, scoring six unanswered points and cutting the Matador lead to 19-17. The teams traded sideouts until Walters gave the Matadors a 23-20 edge with a kill. Walter would close out the set with another kill for a 25-22 CSUN win.
SET 2
The Matadors trailed early on in set two with Menlo building an early 7-3 lead on a William Lawler ace. After a 3-0 spurt that trimmed the deficit to one, the Matadors would catch the Oaks at 9-9 following a Konrad Stoklosinski attack error. CSUN finally took its first lead of the set on another 3-0 run before eventually building a 14-11 edge when Hobus recorded an ace. Menlo pulled to within one point on seven different occasions down the stretch of the set but the Matadors never relinquished the lead. Merren gave the Matadors a 24-21 edge, setting up set point. After a Stoklosinski attack was called in, seemingly trimming the CSUN lead to two, the call was reversed following an official review. The call reversal gave the Matadors the set two win.
SET 3
CSUN led from start-to-finish as the Matadors held Menlo to .071 hitting for the set. Merren gave the Matadors an early 4-1 lead with one of his eight kills. The lead grew to 10-5 with a 3-0 CSUN run, highlighted by a Tello ace. The Oaks pulled to within three on three different occasions but the Matadors never let the visitors get any closer. After building a 21-16 lead, the Matadors closed the match with four consecutive points, fueled by two team blocks. The trio of Merren, Malcolm King and Cody Bowker ended the match with an assisted block.
UP NEXT
CSUN stays home to take on USC on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m.
#UniteTheValley
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With the 25-22, 25-21, 25-17 win, the Matadors improve to 4-2 on the season and have won four in a row. The match was an exhibition for the Menlo Oaks.
KEY STATISTICS
•Kyle Hobus led all Matadors with 11 kills while hitting .318 on 22 swings. Griffin Walters added 10 kills with just one error and hit .429 for the match. CSUN also picked up eight kills from Nathan Merren who hit .500 on 16 errorless attacks. Merren shared the team lead in digs with five.
• Donovan Constable registered a game-high 27 assists to go with five digs.
• Hitting .545 for the match, Jano Tello had seven kills on 11 swings while Jackson Payne chipped in with five kills on six attacks.
• CSUN hit .463 for the match and improved its attack percentage each set. After hitting .343 in set one, CSUN would hit .522 in set two before posting a .591 percentage in the final set. As a team, the Matadors had five blocks to Menlo's two. CSUN also had four service aces on the night.
• For Menlo, Edin Ibrahimovic had a match-high 17 kills to go with a .400 hitting percentage.
COACH THEO EDWARDS SAID
"I thought offensively we were really good. We hit .463 and played one of our better matches of the season so far. That's a testament to the setting which was very good. Our ball control I thought was really good overall. I don't know if the stats will actually show it but Taylan Cook did a fantastic job in reception and he was passing the ball incredibly well. Obviously, we had Griffin at .429 on 21 swings and Hobus at .318 so I'm super excited for those guys. And then Nathan Merren had zero errors for .500 on 16 swings. I felt from a defensive perspective, we were able to do some things we haven't been able to do all season. We were able to lock in with some of the schemes that we've been working on. It's nice that the hard work is starting to pay off for these guys."
SET 1
CSUN would give up the first point but never trail again in the opening set. The Matadors went on a 5-1 run to build an 8-4 lead as Walters closed the run with a service ace. Menlo trimmed the Matador lead to 11-8 but CSUN countered with four consecutive points to open their biggest lead of the set at 15-8. The Oaks though made a run late in the set, scoring six unanswered points and cutting the Matador lead to 19-17. The teams traded sideouts until Walters gave the Matadors a 23-20 edge with a kill. Walter would close out the set with another kill for a 25-22 CSUN win.
SET 2
The Matadors trailed early on in set two with Menlo building an early 7-3 lead on a William Lawler ace. After a 3-0 spurt that trimmed the deficit to one, the Matadors would catch the Oaks at 9-9 following a Konrad Stoklosinski attack error. CSUN finally took its first lead of the set on another 3-0 run before eventually building a 14-11 edge when Hobus recorded an ace. Menlo pulled to within one point on seven different occasions down the stretch of the set but the Matadors never relinquished the lead. Merren gave the Matadors a 24-21 edge, setting up set point. After a Stoklosinski attack was called in, seemingly trimming the CSUN lead to two, the call was reversed following an official review. The call reversal gave the Matadors the set two win.
SET 3
CSUN led from start-to-finish as the Matadors held Menlo to .071 hitting for the set. Merren gave the Matadors an early 4-1 lead with one of his eight kills. The lead grew to 10-5 with a 3-0 CSUN run, highlighted by a Tello ace. The Oaks pulled to within three on three different occasions but the Matadors never let the visitors get any closer. After building a 21-16 lead, the Matadors closed the match with four consecutive points, fueled by two team blocks. The trio of Merren, Malcolm King and Cody Bowker ended the match with an assisted block.
UP NEXT
CSUN stays home to take on USC on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m.
#UniteTheValley
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Team Stats
Menlo
CSUN
Kills
31
43
Errors
16
6
Attempts
80
80
Hitting %
.188
.463
Points
38
52.5
Assists
31
38
Aces
5
4
Blocks
2
5.5
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
11
Aces
1
Blocks
0
Kills
10
Aces
2
Blocks
0
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
7
Aces
1
Blocks
0
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's Volleyball
L
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's Volleyball
OPP
/ Men's VolleyballOPP
/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's VolleyballMB
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's VolleyballCalHOPE Award Nathan Merren
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