Friday, January 5
Santa Barbara, CA
7:00 P.M.
California State University at Northridge
1-1,0-0Big West
3
vs
1
NJIT
0-2,0-0EIVA
1
2
3
4
F
NJIT
25
19
20
23
1
CSUN
20
25
25
25
3
Photo by: Steve Fitzgerald
No. 17 CSUN Downs NJIT For Season's First Win
1/5/2024 11:58:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
GOLETA, Calif. – The No. 17 CSUN men's volleyball team hit .325 as a team as the Matadors picked up their first win of the season, topping NJIT in four sets (20-25, 25-19, 25-20, 25-23) in their second match of the ASICS Invitational Friday night at Rob Gym.
CSUN (1-1) got a match-high 12 kills from both senior Kyle Hobus and redshirt freshman Jalen Phillips in the win. Both hit over .300 as Phillips hit .391 on 23 swings while Hobus hit .304 on 23 attacks. Hobus also added three aces and three blocks while Phillips posted a team-high five digs and a pair of blocks. Sophomore Malcolm King matched Hobus with a career-high three aces while also adding four kills (.500) and four blocks.
For the match, CSUN hit .325 with 43 kills and just 16 errors on 83 swings while limiting the Highlanders to a .167 hitting clip. The Matadors racked up nine aces as five different players had at least one ace. CSUN also had a sizable advantage in team blocks (10-5) while NJIT had a slight edge in team digs (22-20)..
HOW IT HAPPENED
NOTES
ACCORDING TO COACH THEO EDWARDS
"It was a nice win for the team. We had a couple guys that really played well; both Jalen and Kyle had 12 kills and really were leaders out there and had some really big kills in big moments. Jackson (Payne) came in and brought a completely different energy and helped turn things around for us. NJIT played really well, I just think we caught momentum and it never turned around."
UP NEXT
CSUN wraps up the ASICS Invitational Saturday afternoon, taking on No. 20 George Mason at 2 p.m. at Rob Gym on the UC Santa Barbara campus.
#GoMatadors
CSUN (1-1) got a match-high 12 kills from both senior Kyle Hobus and redshirt freshman Jalen Phillips in the win. Both hit over .300 as Phillips hit .391 on 23 swings while Hobus hit .304 on 23 attacks. Hobus also added three aces and three blocks while Phillips posted a team-high five digs and a pair of blocks. Sophomore Malcolm King matched Hobus with a career-high three aces while also adding four kills (.500) and four blocks.
For the match, CSUN hit .325 with 43 kills and just 16 errors on 83 swings while limiting the Highlanders to a .167 hitting clip. The Matadors racked up nine aces as five different players had at least one ace. CSUN also had a sizable advantage in team blocks (10-5) while NJIT had a slight edge in team digs (22-20)..
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After the Matadors scored four of the first five points of the match, NJIT claimed five of the next six points to take the lead for good. CSUN would tie the score twice (8-8, 16-16) but the Matadors could never take a lead and fell 25-20.
- After hitting .105 in the opening set, CSUN hit a robust .429 in set two while limiting NJIT to a -.136 team hitting clip. The Matadors trailed by a pair in the early going before taking control midway through the set. With the score tied 7-7, a King kill fueled an 8-4 CSUN run that opened up a 15-11 advantage. A Griffin Walters kill and a Highlander hitting error extended the lead to five at 19-15 and CSUN would not look back to even the match with a 25-18 win.
- The Matadors carried the momentum into the third set, leading 9-4 following a Hobus ace and a Jackson Payne kill. Still up five at 14-9, the Matadors surrendered a 6-2 NJIT run that trimmed the gap to 16-15. Another Walters kill and a Highlander hitting error boosted the lead back to three (18-15) and CSUN would go on to the 25-20 win.
- The final set saw the Matadors again open up a six-point lead at 20-14 only to see NJIT rally back to within one in the final stages forcing a CSUN timeout. Trailing 23-20, the Highlanders scored two straight to pull within 23-22 but Hobus came to the rescue with a pair of kills, his 12th on match point sent CSUN to the 25-23 win.
NOTES
- Junior setter Donovan Constable posted a season-high 39 assists in the win while also adding four blocks, three digs and one ace.
- Payne came off the bench in set two and put down six kills on seven errorless attacks (.857) while also adding four blocks and one ace.
- With the win, CSUN evens its ASICS Invitational record at 1-1 while improving to 6-1 all-time against NJIT.
ACCORDING TO COACH THEO EDWARDS
"It was a nice win for the team. We had a couple guys that really played well; both Jalen and Kyle had 12 kills and really were leaders out there and had some really big kills in big moments. Jackson (Payne) came in and brought a completely different energy and helped turn things around for us. NJIT played really well, I just think we caught momentum and it never turned around."
UP NEXT
CSUN wraps up the ASICS Invitational Saturday afternoon, taking on No. 20 George Mason at 2 p.m. at Rob Gym on the UC Santa Barbara campus.
#GoMatadors
Team Stats
NJIT
CSUN
Kills
35
43
Errors
21
16
Attempts
84
83
Hitting %
.167
.325
Points
44.0
62.0
Assists
35
42
Aces
4
9
Blocks
5
10
Game Leaders
Kills
12
Aces
3
Blocks
3
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
7
Aces
1
Blocks
0
Kills
6
Aces
1
Blocks
4
Players Mentioned
S
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
OPP
/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's Volleyball
OPP
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's VolleyballCalHOPE Award Nathan Merren
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