Thursday, January 4
Santa Barbara, CA
4:30 P.M.
California State University at Northridge
0-1,0-0Big West
0
vs
3
Grand Canyon
1-0,0-0MPSF
1
2
3
F
Grand Canyon
25
25
27
3
CSUN
22
20
25
0
Photo by: Steve Fitzgerald
#17 CSUN Falls to #7 Grand Canyon in Asics Invitational Opener
1/4/2024 7:34:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
GOLETA, Calif. - The 17th-ranked CSUN men's volleyball team fell in its season opener as No. 7 Grand Canyon claimed three tight sets in a 25-22, 25-20, 27-25 victory Thursday evening at the Asics Invitational at Rob Gym.
Senior Kyle Hobus put down a match-high 11 kills to lead the Matadors (0-1) while also adding three blocks, two digs and one ace. In his collegiate debut, redshirt freshman Jalen Phillips added nine kills while hitting .312 on 16 attacks. Phillips also chipped in two blocks, one dig and one assist.
"I thought the guys played well tonight. I tip my hat to this Grand Canyon team, they did a fantastic job. That's a team that was in the NCAA Tournament last season and returned most of their guys. They're experienced and they showed our guys a lot of things we're going to see throughout the season. For us, it's going to be about finishing and learning how to rise to the occasion in those moments. We had opportunities to win each and every one of those sets tonight and it's about us being able to do that on a consistent basis."
Senior Kyle Hobus put down a match-high 11 kills to lead the Matadors (0-1) while also adding three blocks, two digs and one ace. In his collegiate debut, redshirt freshman Jalen Phillips added nine kills while hitting .312 on 16 attacks. Phillips also chipped in two blocks, one dig and one assist.
Grand Canyon out-hit the Matadors .295 (33-15-61) to .197 (34-19-76) and posted 18 digs to CSUN's 10. The Matadors won the battle at the net with 8.0 team blocks to 5.0 for the Lopes. CSUN also had six aces, two each from Griffin Walters and Donovan Constable, to GCU's four.
HOW IT HAPPENEDÂ
- Both teams started the match incredibly hot offensively before CSUN tailed off a bit at the conclusion of the opening set. The Matadors would not lead the entire set but never trailed by more than three points. CSUN fought back to knot the score at 14-14 on a Phillips kill but GCU would claim three of the next four points to lead 18-15. A Hobus kill capped a 4-1 Matador run that tied the score at 22-22, but the Lopes would claim the final three points in a 25-22 win.
- CSUN opened up its largest lead at 13-10 in the second set following a co-block from Walters and Malcolm King. But an ensuing 6-0 run by GCU erased the lead while putting the Lopes up 16-13. After a Hobus kill trimmed the lead to one (19-18), GCU answered with a 4-0 run to give the Lopes the margin they need to take a 25-20 win.
- Needing a win to stay in the match, King's kill in the middle gave CSUN an early 10-6 lead forcing a GCU timeout. Consecutive Matador blocks would give CSUN its largest lead at 12-7 before GCU would put together an 8-2 run to re-take the lead 15-14. Trailing 20-18, CSUN engineered a 4-0 run, capped by a King solo block, to take its final lead, 22-20. A 3-0 GCU run was halted by a Hobus kill at 23-22 before the Matadors had a swing at the set at 25-24. But a CSUN service error was followed by a GCU kill and a Matador hitting error as the Lopes pulled out the 27-25 win.
 ACCORDING TO COACH THEO EDWARDSThoughts from head coach Theo Edwards following No. 17 #CSUN's 3-0 loss to No. 7 Grand Canyon at the ASICS Invitational#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/KncTgQcdsv
— CSUN Men's Volleyball (@CSUNMensVB) January 5, 2024
"I thought the guys played well tonight. I tip my hat to this Grand Canyon team, they did a fantastic job. That's a team that was in the NCAA Tournament last season and returned most of their guys. They're experienced and they showed our guys a lot of things we're going to see throughout the season. For us, it's going to be about finishing and learning how to rise to the occasion in those moments. We had opportunities to win each and every one of those sets tonight and it's about us being able to do that on a consistent basis."
UP NEXT
CSUNÂ plays its second match of the Asics Invitational Friday night at 7 p.m. as the Matadors take on NJIT at Robertson Gymnasium on the UCSB campus.
#GoMatadors
Team Stats
GCU
CSUN
Kills
33
34
Errors
15
19
Attempts
61
76
Hitting %
.295
.197
Points
42.0
48.0
Assists
30
33
Aces
4
6
Blocks
5
8
Game Leaders
Kills
11
Aces
1
Blocks
3
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
6
Aces
2
Blocks
0
Kills
5
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
S
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
OPP
/ Men's Volleyball
OPP
/ Men's Volleyball
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