Friday, February 24
La Jolla, CA
7:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
11-5,1-0Big West
3
at
1
UC San Diego
6-8,0-1Big West
1
2
3
4
F
CSUN
23
25
25
25
3
UC San Diego
25
18
23
21
1
Photo by: Steve Fitzgerald
Matadors Top UCSD in Big West Opener for Seventh Straight Win
2/24/2023 9:33:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
LA JOLLA, Calif. - Redshirt junior Kyle Hobus led all hitters with 17 kills to pace the 14th-ranked CSUN men's volleyball team in a four-set win at UC San Diego in the Big West opener for both teams Friday night at LionTree Arena.
After dropping the opening set, the Matadors (11-5, 1-0) stormed back to win the final three sets to earn their seventh straight win by the score of 23-25, 25-18, 25-23, 25-21. CSUN's seven straight wins is the longest streak by a Matador team since 2016. The loss drops the Tritons to 6-8 overall and 0-1 in the Big West.
KEY STATISTICS
• Hobus put down his 17 kills on 43 swings to hit .163 but also had a big defensive night with a career-high eight blocks along with five digs.
• Lorenzo Bertozzi added nine kills with just a single hitting error on 18 attacks to hit .444. Bertozzi also had five digs and a career-high three blocks. Griffin Walters chipped in eight kills (.077), seven digs and three aces while Jano Tello added five kills (.500) and Malcolm King posted a season-high six blocks.
• Sophomore setter Donovan Constable handed out 36 assists along with six digs, two kills and one ace awhile libero Taylan Cook had a team-high nine digs.
• On a night where neither team hit particularly well, the Matadors wound up hitting .241 (45-19-108) to UCSD's .146 (48-30-123). CSUN also had a 7-3 advantage in aces and a 12.0-10.5 edge in blocks. The Tritons wound up with a 39-34 edge in team digs.
• Berkeley Miesfeld and Ryan Ka each had 15 kills to lead the Tritons.
COACH THEO EDWARDS SAID
"Since this was our first day trip, I thought we got off to a bit of a slow start and it took us a little bit to adapt to the game plan as well as the environment. Kyle (Hobus) had a little trouble early on but when he found his groove, he was really tough to stop. Jano (Tello) and Malcolm (King) were also excellent tonight and I thought we gained a little more consistency from the service line. Some of the hitting errors they committed early on were unforced, but then we adapted and starting forcing more hitting errors when we weren't getting blocks."
SET 1
The two teams battled to an 8-8 tie in the opening set when three straight UCSD points opened up a three-point cushion for the hosts. The Matadors then went on a 6-1 run to take a 15-12 lead into the media timeout. CSUN maintained a three-point edge at 16-13 and again at 17-14 when the Tritons scored four straight to take the lead back at 18-17. After a UCSD service error tied the score, the Tritons used kills from Miesfeld and Ka to take a 20-18 lead. CSUN would rally back to tie the score at 21-21, 22-22 and 23-23 when a pair of Matador miscues sent UCSD to the 25-23 win.
SET 2
The Tritons carried the momentum into the second set, leading 10-7 following a Hobus hitting error. But a Hobus solo block on the ensuing point propelled the Matadors on a 3-0 run that knotted the score at 10-10. UCSD then claimed three of the next four points to lead 13-11 when CSUN rallied behind a 5-0 run to open up a 16-13 lead. The Tritons scored twice to trim the lead to one when Hobus connected for consecutive kills to keep the CSUN lead at three (18-15). Still leading by three at 21-18, the Matadors would claim the final four points, capped by a Walters ace, to win going away, 25-18.
SET 3
After the opening set featured 14 ties and six lead changes, the third set would feature 10 ties and three lead changes. Neither team led by more than two points until a 5-2 UCSD run opened up a 15-12 lead for the Tritons at the media timeout. Three straight CSUN points forced a UCSD timeout before the run was extended to 5-1 giving the Matadors a 17-16 lead. The score remained tied at 18-18 and 21-21 when three straight kills by Hobus opened up a 24-21 Matador lead. Following a Triton timeout, UCSD would save a pair of set points when Hobus and Tello teamed up to stuff a Triton attack giving CSUN the 25-23 win.
SET 4
After Walters' third ace of the night opened up a 3-0 Matador lead, the hosts would battle back to open up a 12-9 lead following a block. A Nick Rigo ace would extend the UCSD lead to as many as four at 14-10 before a 4-2 CSUN run trimmed the deficit to 16-14. The Tritons would push the lead back to three at 18-15 when a King kill fueled a 6-0 Matador run that gave CSUN the lead for good at 21-18. UCSD would pull within two on a pair of occasions, the last at 22-20 when the Matadors claimed three of the final four points to close out a 25-21 win.
UP NEXT
CSUN is off until next Friday when the Matadors travel to No. 9 Stanford for a non-conference match at 5 p.m.
#GoMatadors
After dropping the opening set, the Matadors (11-5, 1-0) stormed back to win the final three sets to earn their seventh straight win by the score of 23-25, 25-18, 25-23, 25-21. CSUN's seven straight wins is the longest streak by a Matador team since 2016. The loss drops the Tritons to 6-8 overall and 0-1 in the Big West.
KEY STATISTICS
• Hobus put down his 17 kills on 43 swings to hit .163 but also had a big defensive night with a career-high eight blocks along with five digs.
• Lorenzo Bertozzi added nine kills with just a single hitting error on 18 attacks to hit .444. Bertozzi also had five digs and a career-high three blocks. Griffin Walters chipped in eight kills (.077), seven digs and three aces while Jano Tello added five kills (.500) and Malcolm King posted a season-high six blocks.
• Sophomore setter Donovan Constable handed out 36 assists along with six digs, two kills and one ace awhile libero Taylan Cook had a team-high nine digs.
• On a night where neither team hit particularly well, the Matadors wound up hitting .241 (45-19-108) to UCSD's .146 (48-30-123). CSUN also had a 7-3 advantage in aces and a 12.0-10.5 edge in blocks. The Tritons wound up with a 39-34 edge in team digs.
• Berkeley Miesfeld and Ryan Ka each had 15 kills to lead the Tritons.
COACH THEO EDWARDS SAID
"Since this was our first day trip, I thought we got off to a bit of a slow start and it took us a little bit to adapt to the game plan as well as the environment. Kyle (Hobus) had a little trouble early on but when he found his groove, he was really tough to stop. Jano (Tello) and Malcolm (King) were also excellent tonight and I thought we gained a little more consistency from the service line. Some of the hitting errors they committed early on were unforced, but then we adapted and starting forcing more hitting errors when we weren't getting blocks."
SET 1
The two teams battled to an 8-8 tie in the opening set when three straight UCSD points opened up a three-point cushion for the hosts. The Matadors then went on a 6-1 run to take a 15-12 lead into the media timeout. CSUN maintained a three-point edge at 16-13 and again at 17-14 when the Tritons scored four straight to take the lead back at 18-17. After a UCSD service error tied the score, the Tritons used kills from Miesfeld and Ka to take a 20-18 lead. CSUN would rally back to tie the score at 21-21, 22-22 and 23-23 when a pair of Matador miscues sent UCSD to the 25-23 win.
SET 2
The Tritons carried the momentum into the second set, leading 10-7 following a Hobus hitting error. But a Hobus solo block on the ensuing point propelled the Matadors on a 3-0 run that knotted the score at 10-10. UCSD then claimed three of the next four points to lead 13-11 when CSUN rallied behind a 5-0 run to open up a 16-13 lead. The Tritons scored twice to trim the lead to one when Hobus connected for consecutive kills to keep the CSUN lead at three (18-15). Still leading by three at 21-18, the Matadors would claim the final four points, capped by a Walters ace, to win going away, 25-18.
SET 3
After the opening set featured 14 ties and six lead changes, the third set would feature 10 ties and three lead changes. Neither team led by more than two points until a 5-2 UCSD run opened up a 15-12 lead for the Tritons at the media timeout. Three straight CSUN points forced a UCSD timeout before the run was extended to 5-1 giving the Matadors a 17-16 lead. The score remained tied at 18-18 and 21-21 when three straight kills by Hobus opened up a 24-21 Matador lead. Following a Triton timeout, UCSD would save a pair of set points when Hobus and Tello teamed up to stuff a Triton attack giving CSUN the 25-23 win.
SET 4
After Walters' third ace of the night opened up a 3-0 Matador lead, the hosts would battle back to open up a 12-9 lead following a block. A Nick Rigo ace would extend the UCSD lead to as many as four at 14-10 before a 4-2 CSUN run trimmed the deficit to 16-14. The Tritons would push the lead back to three at 18-15 when a King kill fueled a 6-0 Matador run that gave CSUN the lead for good at 21-18. UCSD would pull within two on a pair of occasions, the last at 22-20 when the Matadors claimed three of the final four points to close out a 25-21 win.
UP NEXT
CSUN is off until next Friday when the Matadors travel to No. 9 Stanford for a non-conference match at 5 p.m.
#GoMatadors
Team Stats
CSUN
UCSD
Kills
45
48
Errors
19
30
Attempts
108
123
Hitting %
.241
.146
Points
64
61.5
Assists
40
45
Aces
7
3
Blocks
12
10.5
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
17
Aces
1
Blocks
8
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
8
Aces
3
Blocks
2
Kills
5
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's Volleyball
L
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's Volleyball
OPP
/ Men's VolleyballMB
/ Men's VolleyballOH
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