#15 Lewis Holds Off No. 16 CSUN's Comeback Bid

Saturday, February 24

Northridge, CA

6:00 P.M.

California State University at Northridge

8-6,0-0Big West

Lewis University

9-7,3-3MIVA

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Lewis	25	25	19	19	15	3
CSUN	20	15	25	25	10	2

Photo by: Steve Fitzgerald

#15 Lewis Holds Off No. 16 CSUN's Comeback Bid

2/24/2024 8:38:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - After dropping the first two sets, the 16th-ranked CSUN men's volleyball team stormed back to win the next two sets before falling 15-9 in the fifth set as No. 15 Lewis escaped with a 3-2 non-conference win Saturday night at Premier America Credit Union Arena.

Senior Kyle Hobus led all hitters in the match, putting down a season-high 25 kills. Hobus hit .426 on a season-high 47 swings to go with seven digs, four blocks, and a pair of aces. Fellow senior Griffin Walters added 11 kills (.125) and six digs while redshirt freshman Jalen Phillips chipped in 10 kills (.103).

CSUN (8-6) hit .211 (55-28-128) behind 43 assists from Donovan Constable while Lewis hit .259 (51-22-112) as a team. The Matadors would post slight edges in blocks (12.5-11.5) and aces (3-2) while the Flyers had 33 team digs to 31 for CSUN. Senior Jano Tello tied for match-high honors with a career-high six blocks for the Matadors.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Neither team hit well in the opening set which was tied nine times and featured four lead changes. After a Hobus kill gave CSUN a 9-7 lead, the Flyers claimed six of the next eight points to take a 13-11 lead. A 4-2 Matador run tied the score at 15-15 before Lewis took advantage of a pair of CSUN hitting errors to open up a 19-16 cushion. The Matadors responded with a 4-2 run to pull within 21-20 but would get no closer as the Flyers closed the set on a 4-1 run.
After hitting .118 in set one, CSUN slipped to .000 in set two as the Flyers opened up a two-set lead with a 25-15 win. The Matadors were within two at 15-13 following a Lorenzo Bertozzi kill when a 3-1 Lewis run forced a CSUN timeout. A kill by Jackson Payne trimmed the lead to 18-15 but Lewis would score the final seven points of the frame.
CSUN would bounce back to hit .229 in set three while limiting Lewis to an .034 clip. Another Hobus kill gave the Matadors an early 4-1 lead and CSUN would never trail in the set. The Flyers would trail by three (9-6) before putting together a 4-2 run to cut the Matador lead to 11-10. A Lewis service error would then fuel a 5-0 CSUN run that opened up a 16-10 lead before the Matadors closed out a 25-19 win.

The Matadors would then hit a match-high .440 to take the fourth set by the same 25-19 margin. Holding a slim 13-12 lead, CSUN would outscore Lewis 6-1 over the next seven points to open up a 19-13 cushion. The Flyers would only get within four the rest of the way as the Matadors forced a fifth and deciding set.

Lewis would not commit a hitting error in the final set, connecting for nine kills on 11 swings to pull out the 15-10 win. After a Phillips kill pulled the Matadors within one at 6-5, the Flyers claimed four of the next five points to lead 10-6. A Lewis service error out of a CSUN timeout pulled the Matadors within three (10-7) before kills from Walters and Hobus cut the lead to two at 11-9. Lewis would answer with a match-clinching 4-1 run to take the match, 15-9.

ACCORDING TO COACH THEO EDWARDS
"Great match tonight, but when you have matches like this you want to win them. We're coming off a 10-day lull when we didn't have a match, and that showed especially in the first two sets. We got off to a slow start, but what was nice to see is that we turned it around. In sets three and four, we saw some really great production. Kyle had a great night and Donovan started to find his groove. For us, it's a moment to grow and get back to the drawing board and figure out what we can to improve."

UP NEXT
The Matadors continue their current seven-match homestand next week, hosting Pepperdine on Wednesday and Charleston on Friday. Both matches are scheduled for a 6 p.m. first serve and will stream on ESPN+.

#GoMatadors