CSUN's Hot Hitting Not Enough in 3-0 Loss to No. 5 UC Irvine

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - CSUN had four hitters hit over .300, led by Kyle Hobus' 13 kills (.370) but No. 5 UC Irvine swept the Matadors for the second straight night Saturday night at Premier America Credit Union Arena.

With the win, the Anteaters remain undefeated in Big West play at 6-0 while improving to 16-6 overall. The Matadors drop their sixth straight to slip to 12-11 overall and 1-5 in conference play.

KEY STATISTICS
• Hobus put down a team-high 13 kills, hitting .370 on 27 swings. He narrowly missed his second double-double of the season by adding a team-high nine digs.
• Griffin Walters also reached double figures with 10 kills, hitting .304 on 23 attacks while Lorenzo Bertozzi added six kills (.059) and two digs.
• Both Matador middles hit well as Jano Tello and Jackson Payne each had five kills with Tello hitting .444 and Payne .400. Tello also added four blocks, including a pair of solo stuffs.
• Setter Donovan Constable had 37 assists, three digs, three blocks, one ace and one kill for the Matadors in the loss. Taylan Cook and Matteo Salvador combined for seven digs from the libero spot.
• Both teams hit well as the Anteaters would hit .356 to .303 for the Matadors. UCI also had slight advantages in aces (4-2), digs (33-24) and blocks (7-6.5).
• Francesco Sani led all hitters in the match with 23 kills, hitting a robust .475 on 40 swings.

COACH THEO EDWARDS SAID
"If you look at the stat sheet, this is typically what it looks like when you win. We had four guys hit over .300 and we hit over .300 as a team but unfortunately in the Big West there's little room for mistakes. In each set we gave up a run or two that essentially proved to be the difference. But for us, I felt like tonight was a step in the right direction. This was probably our best performance as a team in the last three weeks so I'm really excited about that."

SET 1
The Matadors would take a lead into the media timeout in each of the first two sets. CSUN lead 15-13 in the opening set following a pair of UCI hitting errors but the visitors rallied for four straight out of the break to take a 17-15 lead. Kills by Bertozzi and Walters tied the score at 19-19, but the Anteaters would score the next three to lead 22-19. The Matadors would rally back to within one at 22-21 and 23-22 before UCI used a pair of Sani kills to take a 25-22 win.

SET 2
A CSUN triple block opened up the Matadors' largest lead of the night at 11-8. CSUN would maintain the three-point edge on five occasions, the last at 16-13 when a 3-1 run capped by Sani kill tied the score at 17-17. An Anteater service error out of a Matador timeout gave CSUN its final lead at 18-17 before three straight UCI points gave the visitors a 20-18 lead. A Hobus kill and a UCI hitting error pulled CSUN even but a Matador service error followed by a CSUN hitting error looked to give the Anteaters the margin they needed at 23-21. Holding set point at 24-22, CSUN would save a pair of set points on a kill and a block by Tello. The Matadors would save two more set points at 25-24 and 26-25 before kills by Cole Gillis and Sani ended the set for UCI, 28-26.

SET 3
UCI would out-hit the Matadors .350 to .194 to take the final set 25-19. The Anteaters held an early 5-3 before forcing a CSUN timeout leading 8-4. Kills from Walters and Payne brought the Matadors back within one at 10-9 and CSUN stayed within one at 15-14 when UCI outscored the Matadors 4-1 over the next five points to open up a 19-15 cushion.Down 24-17, CSUN got kills from Payne and Hobus to save a pair of match points before Sani connected for his 23rd and final kill to seal the 25-19 win.

UP NEXT
The Matadors next take on No. 4 Long Beach State in a home-and-home series that begins next Friday (Apr. 7) in Northridge.

#GoMatadors

CSUN's Hot Hitting Not Enough in 3-0 Loss to No. 5 UC Irvine

Players Mentioned

Lorenzo Bertozzi

Donovan Constable

Taylan Cook

Kyle Hobus

Jackson Payne

Matteo Salvador

Jano Tello

Griffin Walters