#4 Long Beach State Holds off #15 CSUN's Upset Bid

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - The 15th-ranked CSUN men's volleyball team claimed the first two sets but could not hold on as No. 4 Long Beach State battled back to take the final three sets and defeat the Matadors, 3-2 in a Big West match Friday night at Premier America Credit Union Arena.

With the win, the visiting Beach improve to 17-3 overall and 6-1 in the Big West. CSUN suffers its seventh straight loss to slip to 12-12 overall and 1-6 in conference play.

KEY STATISTICS
• Three Matador hitters reached double figures in kills, led by Kyle Hobus' team-high 14. Hobus hit .238 on 32 swings to go with seven digs, seven blocks and a pair of aces.
• Griffin Walters added 13 kills (.171) three digs and three blocks while Lorenzo Bertozzi chipped in 10 kills (.259), four digs, one block and one ace.
• Jano Tello had a solid night in the middle, posting seven kills on 14 swings to hit .429 with four blocks. Fellow middle Jackson Payne had a career-high seven blocks as the Matadors posted their best blocking total (13.0) since putting up 14.5 against Princeton on Feb. 8. eight kills (.333).
• Sophomore setter Donovan Constable recorded 38 assists, six digs, two blocks and one ace in the loss.
• The Beach wound up out-hitting the Matadors .384 to .238. Long Beach also had a sizable 58-28 advantage in digs while CSUN out-blocked the Beach 13-5.5 and had five aces to one for the Beach.
• Clarke Godbold led all hitters in the match with 32 kills, hitting .571 on a match-high 49 swings to lead Long Beach.

COACH THEO EDWARDS SAID
"The way we played in the first two sets is a level of volleyball we've been trying to get to all season. Now we have to figure out to sustain it and take it to the next level. When you hold a team like Long Beach under .200 in the first two sets, that's the type of defensive blocking we've been strategizing all season. It's incredibly exciting to see us do that in flashes and now it's time for us to get over the hump and finish matches and end up on the other side of the coin in terms of wins and losses."

SET 1
The Matadors overcame a host of two-point deficits early on, taking a two-point lead themselves at 10-8 following a Hobus kill. Still up 10-9, CSUN rolled off four straight to open up a 14-9 lead when Hobus and Payne put up a block. The Matadors would lead by as many as six at 16-10 when a 4-0 run by the visitors cut the lead to two at 16-14. But a pair of Long Beach hitting errors and a Tello kill pushed the lead to five at 19-14. The visitors would again rally to within one (21-20) following a 3-0 run and would eventually tie the score at 22-22 on a Goldbold kill. Long Beach would lead at 23-22 and 24-23 when a Bertozzi kill and a Beach hitting error gave CSUN set point at 25-24. Long Beach answered with a kill before a service error and a co-block by Tello and Constable on set point sent the Matadors to the 27-25 win.

SET 2
CSUN carried the momentum into the second set, scoring six of the first eight points, capped by another Hobus-Tello co-block. But an ensuing 5-0 Long Beach run erased the lead and put the visitors in front 7-6. The teams would play even until 10-10 when a Walters kill fueled a 3-0 CSUN run that opened up a 13-10 lead. The Matadors extended the lead to 17-13 on Payne's first ace of the season before the Beach mounted a 6-3 run to close to within 20-19 on a Goldbold kill. But CSUN would close the set on a 5-3 run to close out a 25-22 win and a two-set lead.

SET 3
After hitting .254 over the first two sets, the Matadors would hit .045 in dropping the third set 25-17. Conversely, Long Beach hit .181 in the first two sets before hitting .571 in set three to lead from start to finish. The visitors raced out to a 5-1 lead and would lead 11-5 forcing a CSUN timeout. The Matadors would battle back to get within three on a pair of occasions, the last at 13-10 when a 7-3 Long Beach run pushed the lead to seven at 20-13.

SET 4
The fourth set proved to be the tightest of the match as neither team held more than a two-point lead until the final stages of the set. The two teams traded the lead throughout the first half of the set which would feature 17 ties and six lead changes total. Long Beach led by two at 12-10 when kills from Payne and Tello tied the score. Tello connected giving CSUN the lead back at 16-15 but a 5-2 run by the Beach opened up a 20-18 lead. A Hobus kill out of a Matador timeout cut the deficit to one before a Walters kill and a Hobus ace tied the score at 21-21. Long Beach would get a kill out of a timeout and the Beach would go on to claim the final four points of the set to earn a 25-21 win while forcing a fifth set.

SET 5
Down 5-4 in the fifth set, the Matadors got kills from Hobus and Walters, along with a Beach hitting error, to take a 7-5 lead. The lead was short-lived however as Long Beach engineered a decisive 7-0 run that gave the visitors the lead for good at 12-7. The Matadors would get within four at 12-8 and again at 13-9 following a Walters kill but CSUN would get no closer as Long Beach pulled away for the 15-9 win.

UP NEXT
The same two teams will complete the two-match series Saturday night at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.

#GoMatadors

#4 Long Beach State Holds off #15 CSUN's Upset Bid

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Team Stats

Kyle Hobus

Griffin Walters

Lorenzo Bertozzi

Jano Tello

Players Mentioned

Lorenzo Bertozzi

Donovan Constable

Kyle Hobus

Jackson Payne

Jano Tello

Griffin Walters

Players Mentioned

Lorenzo Bertozzi

Donovan Constable

Kyle Hobus

Jackson Payne

Jano Tello

Griffin Walters