Friday, January 27
Northridge, CA
7:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
4-4,0-0Big West
0
vs
3
UCLA
7-0,0-0MPSF
1
2
3
F
UCLA
25
25
26
3
CSUN
18
16
24
0
Photo by: Steve Fitzgerald
Matadors Drop Straight-Set Decision to Second-Ranked UCLA
1/27/2023 8:55:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - Despite hitting .358 as a team, the CSUN men's volleyball team could not contain a hot-hitting UCLA squad as the No. 2 Bruins swept the Matadors in a non-conference match Friday night at Premier America Credit Union Arena.
With the 25-18, 25-16, 26-24 win, UCLA remains unbeaten at 7-0 while the Matadors slip to 4-4 on the season.
KEY STATISTICS
• Griffin Walters led CSUN with 14 kills, connecting at a .379 clip on a match-high 29 swings. Walters also added one ace and one assist.Â
• Kyle Hobus also reached double figures with 10 kills while hitting a team-high .381 on 21 attacks. Jano Tello chipped in four kills on four errorless swings to hit 1.000 and freshman Malcolm King came off the bench to match his season-high with a pair of kills.
• In his first start of the season, redshirt freshman Lance Krenik posted a career-high 28 assists to go with two digs and one ace. CSUN libero Taylan Cook led all players in the match with seven digs.
• Both teams hit well as the visiting Bruins hit a robust .507 (43-8-69) as a team while the Matadors checked in a .358 (32-8-67). UCLA had slight edges in aces (6-3) and blocks (3.5-1.0) and posted 23 digs to CSUN's 13.
• Ido David led the Bruins with a match-high 16 kills (.636) while J.R. Norris IV added nine kills on nine attacks.
COACH THEO EDWARDS SAID
"We've had the opportunity to play this team twice this season and going into the match we talked about this being an evaluation of where we are in terms of improvement. I thought we got better as the match went on and I thought we handled their service pressure a little better tonight. Our offense was also much improved over the first time around. Griffin (Walters) and Kyle (Hobus) were both very good and Lance (Krenik) found out he was starting five minutes before the match and he did a nice job setting us to a .358 hitting percentage."
SET 1
The Matadors overcame an early three-point deficit (6-3) when a block by Hobus and Jackson Payne capped a 4-1 run that tied the score at 7-7. The two teams traded sideouts until 11-11 when UCLA rolled off five straight to open up a 16-11 cushion. A Walters kill pulled the Matadors within four (16-12) and CSUN would keep the margin at four (18-14) following a Hobus kill. But two straight points by the Bruins forced a Matador timeout at 20-14 and UCLA would outscore CSUN 5-4 down the stretch to take a 25-18 win.
SET 2
The Matadors dropped the opening point of the second frame and would not lead in the set. Another Walters kill pulled CSUN within one at 3-2 but the visitors claimed five of the next seven points to race out to an 8-4 lead. A 4-2 run by the Matadors, capped by a Hobus ace, trimmed the deficit to 10-8. CSUN stayed within two (11-9) following a kill by King before a 4-1 UCLA run opened up a 15-10 advantage. A 3-0 Bruins run forced a Matador timeout at 21-14 before the lead swelled to as many as eight at 23-15. Â
SET 3
The final set would feature four ties and three lead changes as both teams hit a high percentage. CSUN, which hit .500 in the frame, led 5-2 early on before the Bruins would battle back to tie the score at 11-11. The Matadors responded with a 4-1 run to take a 15-12 lead into the media timeout. After UCLA whittled the lead down to one (16-15), CSUN would carry a three-point lead into the latter stages. After a Walters kill put the Matadors up 23-20, the Bruins scored four straight to set up match point at 24-23. A UCLA service error saved one match point before a CSUN setting error sent the Bruins to the 26-24 win.
UP NEXT
CSUN concludes its season-long, seven-match homestand next week, hosting Vanguard on Wednesday (Feb. 1) and No. 12 Stanford on Friday (Feb. 3).
#UniteTheValley
With the 25-18, 25-16, 26-24 win, UCLA remains unbeaten at 7-0 while the Matadors slip to 4-4 on the season.
KEY STATISTICS
• Griffin Walters led CSUN with 14 kills, connecting at a .379 clip on a match-high 29 swings. Walters also added one ace and one assist.Â
• Kyle Hobus also reached double figures with 10 kills while hitting a team-high .381 on 21 attacks. Jano Tello chipped in four kills on four errorless swings to hit 1.000 and freshman Malcolm King came off the bench to match his season-high with a pair of kills.
• In his first start of the season, redshirt freshman Lance Krenik posted a career-high 28 assists to go with two digs and one ace. CSUN libero Taylan Cook led all players in the match with seven digs.
• Both teams hit well as the visiting Bruins hit a robust .507 (43-8-69) as a team while the Matadors checked in a .358 (32-8-67). UCLA had slight edges in aces (6-3) and blocks (3.5-1.0) and posted 23 digs to CSUN's 13.
• Ido David led the Bruins with a match-high 16 kills (.636) while J.R. Norris IV added nine kills on nine attacks.
COACH THEO EDWARDS SAID
"We've had the opportunity to play this team twice this season and going into the match we talked about this being an evaluation of where we are in terms of improvement. I thought we got better as the match went on and I thought we handled their service pressure a little better tonight. Our offense was also much improved over the first time around. Griffin (Walters) and Kyle (Hobus) were both very good and Lance (Krenik) found out he was starting five minutes before the match and he did a nice job setting us to a .358 hitting percentage."
SET 1
The Matadors overcame an early three-point deficit (6-3) when a block by Hobus and Jackson Payne capped a 4-1 run that tied the score at 7-7. The two teams traded sideouts until 11-11 when UCLA rolled off five straight to open up a 16-11 cushion. A Walters kill pulled the Matadors within four (16-12) and CSUN would keep the margin at four (18-14) following a Hobus kill. But two straight points by the Bruins forced a Matador timeout at 20-14 and UCLA would outscore CSUN 5-4 down the stretch to take a 25-18 win.
SET 2
The Matadors dropped the opening point of the second frame and would not lead in the set. Another Walters kill pulled CSUN within one at 3-2 but the visitors claimed five of the next seven points to race out to an 8-4 lead. A 4-2 run by the Matadors, capped by a Hobus ace, trimmed the deficit to 10-8. CSUN stayed within two (11-9) following a kill by King before a 4-1 UCLA run opened up a 15-10 advantage. A 3-0 Bruins run forced a Matador timeout at 21-14 before the lead swelled to as many as eight at 23-15. Â
SET 3
The final set would feature four ties and three lead changes as both teams hit a high percentage. CSUN, which hit .500 in the frame, led 5-2 early on before the Bruins would battle back to tie the score at 11-11. The Matadors responded with a 4-1 run to take a 15-12 lead into the media timeout. After UCLA whittled the lead down to one (16-15), CSUN would carry a three-point lead into the latter stages. After a Walters kill put the Matadors up 23-20, the Bruins scored four straight to set up match point at 24-23. A UCLA service error saved one match point before a CSUN setting error sent the Bruins to the 26-24 win.
UP NEXT
CSUN concludes its season-long, seven-match homestand next week, hosting Vanguard on Wednesday (Feb. 1) and No. 12 Stanford on Friday (Feb. 3).
#UniteTheValley
Team Stats
UCLA
CSUN
Kills
43
32
Errors
8
8
Attempts
69
67
Hitting %
.507
.358
Points
52.5
36
Assists
43
32
Aces
6
3
Blocks
3.5
1
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
14
Aces
1
Blocks
0
Kills
10
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
4
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
2
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Players Mentioned
L
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's VolleyballOPP
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's VolleyballMB
/ Men's VolleyballOH
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