Friday, January 19
Northridge, CA
6:00 P.M.
California State University at Northridge
3-3,0-0Big West
2
vs
3
Princeton
4-1,0-0EIVA
1
2
3
4
5
F
Princeton
25
28
19
20
16
3
CSUN
23
26
25
25
14
2
Photo by: Steve Fitzgerald
#18 CSUN Drops Five-Set Heartbreaker to No. 16 Princeton
1/19/2024 7:19:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - The 18th-ranked CSUN men's volleyball team dropped its first home match of the season, as No. 16 Princeton held off the Matadors in five close sets, 25-23, 28-26, 19-25, 20-25, 16-14 in a non-conference match Friday night at Premier America Credit Union Arena.
Redshirt freshman Jalen Phillips' season-high 21 kills led the Matadors (3-3) who nearly pulled off the reverse sweep after dropping the first two sets. Phillips hit a season-best .485 on 33 swings while also serving a career-high five aces. Senior Griffin Walters added 14 kills (.357), five digs, and three aces while Kyle Hobus also reached double figures with 10 kills (.100), five digs, and two aces.
"It was nice battle tonight, unfortunately we didn't come out on top. We outscored them by 23 points which normally in situations like that you end up winning matches like that. Give Princeton some credit, they won some points at the right time and I felt like down the stretch we had some opportunities to win and just didn't capitalize. We'll take some time and evaluate and figure out some of the things we need to work on and get ready to play USC on Wednesday."
Redshirt freshman Jalen Phillips' season-high 21 kills led the Matadors (3-3) who nearly pulled off the reverse sweep after dropping the first two sets. Phillips hit a season-best .485 on 33 swings while also serving a career-high five aces. Senior Griffin Walters added 14 kills (.357), five digs, and three aces while Kyle Hobus also reached double figures with 10 kills (.100), five digs, and two aces.
Both teams hit well throughout as CSUN wound up hitting .373 (64-20-118) to Princeton's .326 (48-17-95). The Matadors had five players serve two or more aces, recording a season-high 14 as a team which tied for fifth for a single match in CSUN program history. Digs and blocks were close as the visiting Tigers had 28 digs to the Matadors' 25 and 6.5 team blocks to 5.5 for CSUN.
HOW IT HAPPENEDÂ
- Neither team would hold more than a two-point lead throughout the opening set. A Walters kill gave CSUN a 13-12 lead before a Malcolm Kill gave the Matadors their largest lead of 17-15. A 4-0 run by the Tigers forced a Matador timeout at 19-17 and despite CSUN tying the score three times down the stretch, the visitors pulled out a 25-23 win.
- The second set was equally tight as neither team again led by more than two points. A Walters ace put the Matadors up 10-9 and CSUN would not lead again until consecutive kills by Hobus put the Matadors up 26-25. A CSUN hitting error saved one set point before Princeton cashed in a pair of kills to take a 28-26 decision.Â
- After hitting .300 in the first two sets, CSUN hit .500 in taking the third set to stay alive in the match. The Matadors opened up a pair of early four-point leads, the last at 10-6. Princeton scored three straight to cut the deficit down to two at 17-15 before a kill by Phillips halted the run. CSUN would push the lead to 23-18 following a Tello kill before closing out the set 25-19 following a kill and ace by Phillips.
- Hobus put down his 14th kill of the night and followed up with an ace to give the Matadors an early 6-5 lead in the fourth. The two teams would then play even until 15-15 when the Matadors claimed four of the next five to open up a 19-16 cushion. A Lorenzo Bertozzi ace boosted the lead to five (22-17) before CSUN used Phillips' seventh kill of the frame on set point to send the set to a fifth and deciding set.
An incredible match is going five sets. ??
— CSUN Men's Volleyball (@CSUNMensVB) January 20, 2024
CSUN wins the fourth by a score of 25-20 as Jalen Phillips slams his career-high 19th kill.#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/HEDaBxa4TC
- The teams traded sideouts to open the fifth frame before Phillips' 20th kill gave CSUN a 5-4 lead. Phillips' career-high fifth ace put the Matadors up 9-7. The Tigers responded with a 3-1 run to tie the score while forcing a CSUN timeout. Tied 13-13, the Tigers put up a big block to set up match point at 14-13. Out of a CSUN timeout, Phillips saved one match point but the Tigers served an ace on match point to take a 16-14 win.
- Junior setter Donovan Constable posted a season-high 55 assists, coming within one of his career high.
- Senior middle Jano Tello came off the bench to put down seven kills on eight errorless attacks to hit .750 with four blocks.
- With the win, Princeton evens the all-time series with CSUN at three wins apiece. The two teams have now played five sets in consecutive seasons, once on each coast.
"It was nice battle tonight, unfortunately we didn't come out on top. We outscored them by 23 points which normally in situations like that you end up winning matches like that. Give Princeton some credit, they won some points at the right time and I felt like down the stretch we had some opportunities to win and just didn't capitalize. We'll take some time and evaluate and figure out some of the things we need to work on and get ready to play USC on Wednesday."
Thoughts from #CSUN head coach Theo Edwards following the 18th-ranked Matadors' 5-set loss to No. 16 Princeton#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/41tQ3jZLxc
— CSUN Men's Volleyball (@CSUNMensVB) January 20, 2024
UP NEXT
CSUN hits the road for its next match, traveling to No. 13 USC on Wednesday. The Matadors will be back home next Saturday (Jan. 27) to host Central State in a non-conference match at 6 p.m.
#GoMatadors
Team Stats
PU
CSUN
Kills
48
64
Errors
17
20
Attempts
95
118
Hitting %
.326
.373
Points
60.5
83.5
Assists
48
60
Aces
6
14
Blocks
6.5
5.5
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
21
Aces
5
Blocks
3
Kills
14
Aces
3
Blocks
0
Kills
10
Aces
2
Blocks
1
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's VolleyballOPP
/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's VolleyballCalHOPE Award Nathan Merren
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