Wednesday, February 8
Princeton, NJ
4:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
6-5,0-0Big West
3
at
2
Princeton
3-6,0-0EIVA
1
2
3
4
5
F
CSUN
27
17
15
32
15
3
Princeton
25
25
25
30
11
2
Photo by: Steve Fitzgerald
15th-Ranked Matadors Hold Off Princeton's Upset Bid
2/8/2023 6:43:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
PRINCETON, NJ - Kyle Hobus and Griffin Walters combined for 40 of CSUN's 58 kills as the 15th-ranked Matadors held on for a five-set win against the host Princeton Tigers in a non-conference match on Wednesday at Dillon Gymnasium.
With the 27-25, 17-25, 15-25, 32-30, 15-11 victory, the Matadors win their second straight while improving to 6-5. Princeton drops to 3-6 with the loss.
KEY STATISTICS
• With a match-high 21 kills, Hobus tied his season-high for the second straight match. The CSUN junior was limited to a .196 hitting clip on 51 swings but added four digs, four blocks and a pair of aces.
• Walters, the reigning Big West Player of the Week, added a career-high 19 kills on 36 attacks to hit .389. Walters also added six digs and a career-high four blocks.
• Jano Tello matched his career-high with seven kills while hitting a match-high .556 on nine swings. Tello rounded out a solid all-around match with career-highs of five blocks and five digs in the win.
• Setter Donovan Constable narrowly missed his second consecutive double-double with 44 assists and eight digs while also adding three blocks.
• The visiting Matadors had a slight edge in hitting, .226 (58-28-133) to Princeton's .207 (49-25-116) while also posting a season-high 14.5 team blocks. The Tigers dominated at the service line with 12 aces to CSUN's three.
• Ben Harrington led Princeton with 19 kills (.282) and five aces while Nyherowo Omene also reached double digits with 12 kills (.241).
COACH THEO EDWARDS SAID
"Winning on the road is never easy and anytime you travel to play in a different time zone, it's a challenge. The team really showed a lot of grit and the biggest thing for me was all the guys stuck with it and came through when we really needed it. My hope is that we learn from our first true 'road match' of the season and then re-focus and get ready for a very good NJIT team on Friday."
SET 1
Neither team led by more than three points in a tightly contested opening set. The Matadors took advantage of Tello's kill and ace followed by a Princeton setting error to open up their largest lead of the set at 9-6. The Tigers then used a 4-1 run to knot the score at 10-10. The two teams would play even until 14-14 when a pair of Princeton kill and a CSUN hitting error opened up a 17-14 lead for the hosts. The Matadors then countered with a 5-0 run to re-take the lead 19-17. CSUN still led by two at 24-22 when the Tigers saved a pair of set points while sending the set to extra points. A Princeton service error handed the Matadors their third set point but the Tigers saved another with a kill. Tello then connected for a kill at 26-25 and Walters capped the win when his kill converted CSUN's fourth swing at the set.
SET 2
The Matadors had trouble getting their offense on track in each of the first three sets, hitting a match-low .130 in the second set. Conversely, Princeton hit .444 to dominate the set 25-17. After Hobus opened the set with a kill, the hosts scored seven straight and were never threatened. A Hobus ace pulled the Matadors within five at 9-4 and CSUN remained within striking distance at 12-7, 13-8 and 14-9 before Princeton pulled away for the 25-17 win.
SET 3
The Matadors fared no better in the third set as the Tigers extended a slim 5-3 lead to 9-3 following a 4-0 run. A kill by Hobus and a co-block from Walters and Malcolm King cut the deficit to 9-5 but four straight points by the Tigers pushed the lead back to eight at 13-5. The Matadors would not get within five points the remainder of the set as Princeton opened up a two sets to one lead with a 25-15 win.
SET 4
Needing to win out to avoid the upset, CSUN dug itself a four-point hole when a Princeton kill put the hosts up 11-7. The Matadors still trailed by four at 13-9 when a Walters kill fueled a 4-0 run that tied the score at 13-13 while forcing a Tiger timeout. A Matador service error out of the timeout kept the deficit at one before a Hobus kill and a co-block from Constable and Tello put the Matadors in front 15-14. CSUN still hung on to a one-point lead at 18-17 when Jackson Payne's only kill of the night gave the Matadors a two-point lead. A 2-0 Princeton run tied the score for the final time (19-19) when CSUN claimed five of the next six points to take set point at 24-20. The cushion was quickly erased behind a 4-0 run by the Tigers before Tello's kill gave the Matadors their fifth set point at 25-24. Two straight Princeton points would force the Matadors to save match point at 26-25. A Walters kill saved one match point but CSUN would also face match point at 28-27 and again at 30-29 when Hobus' kill saved another match point while sending the Matadors on a 3-0 run, capped by a Walters kill that forced a five and deciding set.
SET 5
The Matadors claimed the first four points and would never trail in the decisive set. CSUN used a Princeton service error to lead 6-2 before the Tigers scored three straight to trim the lead to one. The Matador lead remained one at 7-6 when back-to-back kills by Walters opened up a 9-6 advantage. Another Walters kill kept the CSUN lead at three (11-8) when the hosts again put together a 3-0 run to pull even at 11-11. But the Matadors answered with a match-clinching 4-0 run as Walters' 19th kill was followed by a Lorenzo Bertozzi kill, a Hobus-Payne block and a Tiger hitting error on match point.
UP NEXT
The Matadors have two more matches remaining on the East Coast trip as they next travel to Newark to take on NJIT Friday at 4 p.m. PT.
#GoMatadors
With the 27-25, 17-25, 15-25, 32-30, 15-11 victory, the Matadors win their second straight while improving to 6-5. Princeton drops to 3-6 with the loss.
KEY STATISTICS
• With a match-high 21 kills, Hobus tied his season-high for the second straight match. The CSUN junior was limited to a .196 hitting clip on 51 swings but added four digs, four blocks and a pair of aces.
• Walters, the reigning Big West Player of the Week, added a career-high 19 kills on 36 attacks to hit .389. Walters also added six digs and a career-high four blocks.
• Jano Tello matched his career-high with seven kills while hitting a match-high .556 on nine swings. Tello rounded out a solid all-around match with career-highs of five blocks and five digs in the win.
• Setter Donovan Constable narrowly missed his second consecutive double-double with 44 assists and eight digs while also adding three blocks.
• The visiting Matadors had a slight edge in hitting, .226 (58-28-133) to Princeton's .207 (49-25-116) while also posting a season-high 14.5 team blocks. The Tigers dominated at the service line with 12 aces to CSUN's three.
• Ben Harrington led Princeton with 19 kills (.282) and five aces while Nyherowo Omene also reached double digits with 12 kills (.241).
COACH THEO EDWARDS SAID
"Winning on the road is never easy and anytime you travel to play in a different time zone, it's a challenge. The team really showed a lot of grit and the biggest thing for me was all the guys stuck with it and came through when we really needed it. My hope is that we learn from our first true 'road match' of the season and then re-focus and get ready for a very good NJIT team on Friday."
SET 1
Neither team led by more than three points in a tightly contested opening set. The Matadors took advantage of Tello's kill and ace followed by a Princeton setting error to open up their largest lead of the set at 9-6. The Tigers then used a 4-1 run to knot the score at 10-10. The two teams would play even until 14-14 when a pair of Princeton kill and a CSUN hitting error opened up a 17-14 lead for the hosts. The Matadors then countered with a 5-0 run to re-take the lead 19-17. CSUN still led by two at 24-22 when the Tigers saved a pair of set points while sending the set to extra points. A Princeton service error handed the Matadors their third set point but the Tigers saved another with a kill. Tello then connected for a kill at 26-25 and Walters capped the win when his kill converted CSUN's fourth swing at the set.
SET 2
The Matadors had trouble getting their offense on track in each of the first three sets, hitting a match-low .130 in the second set. Conversely, Princeton hit .444 to dominate the set 25-17. After Hobus opened the set with a kill, the hosts scored seven straight and were never threatened. A Hobus ace pulled the Matadors within five at 9-4 and CSUN remained within striking distance at 12-7, 13-8 and 14-9 before Princeton pulled away for the 25-17 win.
SET 3
The Matadors fared no better in the third set as the Tigers extended a slim 5-3 lead to 9-3 following a 4-0 run. A kill by Hobus and a co-block from Walters and Malcolm King cut the deficit to 9-5 but four straight points by the Tigers pushed the lead back to eight at 13-5. The Matadors would not get within five points the remainder of the set as Princeton opened up a two sets to one lead with a 25-15 win.
SET 4
Needing to win out to avoid the upset, CSUN dug itself a four-point hole when a Princeton kill put the hosts up 11-7. The Matadors still trailed by four at 13-9 when a Walters kill fueled a 4-0 run that tied the score at 13-13 while forcing a Tiger timeout. A Matador service error out of the timeout kept the deficit at one before a Hobus kill and a co-block from Constable and Tello put the Matadors in front 15-14. CSUN still hung on to a one-point lead at 18-17 when Jackson Payne's only kill of the night gave the Matadors a two-point lead. A 2-0 Princeton run tied the score for the final time (19-19) when CSUN claimed five of the next six points to take set point at 24-20. The cushion was quickly erased behind a 4-0 run by the Tigers before Tello's kill gave the Matadors their fifth set point at 25-24. Two straight Princeton points would force the Matadors to save match point at 26-25. A Walters kill saved one match point but CSUN would also face match point at 28-27 and again at 30-29 when Hobus' kill saved another match point while sending the Matadors on a 3-0 run, capped by a Walters kill that forced a five and deciding set.
SET 5
The Matadors claimed the first four points and would never trail in the decisive set. CSUN used a Princeton service error to lead 6-2 before the Tigers scored three straight to trim the lead to one. The Matador lead remained one at 7-6 when back-to-back kills by Walters opened up a 9-6 advantage. Another Walters kill kept the CSUN lead at three (11-8) when the hosts again put together a 3-0 run to pull even at 11-11. But the Matadors answered with a match-clinching 4-0 run as Walters' 19th kill was followed by a Lorenzo Bertozzi kill, a Hobus-Payne block and a Tiger hitting error on match point.
UP NEXT
The Matadors have two more matches remaining on the East Coast trip as they next travel to Newark to take on NJIT Friday at 4 p.m. PT.
#GoMatadors
Team Stats
CSUN
PU
Kills
58
49
Errors
28
25
Attempts
133
116
Hitting %
.226
.207
Points
75.5
74
Assists
54
46
Aces
3
12
Blocks
14.5
13
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
21
Aces
2
Blocks
4
Kills
19
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
7
Aces
1
Blocks
5
Kills
5
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's Volleyball
OPP
/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's VolleyballMB
/ Men's VolleyballOH
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