Friday, March 29
Northridge, CA
6:00 P.M.
California State University at Northridge
11-11,2-3Big West
3
vs
1
UC Irvine
15-7,4-1Big West
1
2
3
4
F
UC Irvine
21
21
26
18
1
CSUN
25
25
24
25
3
Photo by: Chuck Marvel
CSUN Knocks Off No. 3 UCI for Second Straight Top-3 Win
3/29/2024 8:51:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – Senior Kyle Hobus put down a match-high 19 kills and CSUN posted a season-high 17 blocks as the 16th-ranked Matadors knocked off a top-three team for the second straight match, defeating No. 3 UC Irvine, 3-1 in a Big West match on Friday night at Premier America Credit Union Arena.
After upsetting No. 2 Hawai'i in Honolulu last Saturday, the Matadors (11-11, 2-3 Big West) handed UCI its first Big West loss and have now beaten a pair of top-three nationally ranked teams in the same season for the first time since 2010.
Hobus continued his impressive hitting of late, connecting at a .342 clip on 38 swings. The senior outside also had three of CSUN's four aces while matching his season-high with six blocks. Freshman Jalen Phillips also reached double figures in kills with 14 kills (.294) while adding a season-high eight digs and a pair of blocks.
Reining Big West Offensive Player of the Week Donovan Constable posted his third career double-double with 47 assists and a match-high 12 digs while leading the CSUN hitters to a .277 clip (50-19-112). The Matador block helped limit UCI to a season-low .117 team hitting clip (45-30-128) as CSUN held the Big West's leading hitter, Hilir Henno to 13 kills on .024 hitting. Freshman Nir Eitan and Constable each had a match-high seven blocks, each posting one solo stuff.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The same two teams match up again on Saturday as CSUN travels to UCI's Bren Center for a 6 p.m. first serve.
#GoMatadors
After upsetting No. 2 Hawai'i in Honolulu last Saturday, the Matadors (11-11, 2-3 Big West) handed UCI its first Big West loss and have now beaten a pair of top-three nationally ranked teams in the same season for the first time since 2010.
Hobus continued his impressive hitting of late, connecting at a .342 clip on 38 swings. The senior outside also had three of CSUN's four aces while matching his season-high with six blocks. Freshman Jalen Phillips also reached double figures in kills with 14 kills (.294) while adding a season-high eight digs and a pair of blocks.
Reining Big West Offensive Player of the Week Donovan Constable posted his third career double-double with 47 assists and a match-high 12 digs while leading the CSUN hitters to a .277 clip (50-19-112). The Matador block helped limit UCI to a season-low .117 team hitting clip (45-30-128) as CSUN held the Big West's leading hitter, Hilir Henno to 13 kills on .024 hitting. Freshman Nir Eitan and Constable each had a match-high seven blocks, each posting one solo stuff.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The visitors claimed two of the first three points of the match before extending to lead to 7-4 on a Connor Campbell kill. After tailing by as many as four, the Matadors rallied behind a 6-2 run to knot the score at 16-16 on a Constable/Jano Tello co-block. Following an Anteater timeout, UCI scored three straight to push the lead back to three forcing a CSUN timeout. Still trailing 20-18, the Matadors would put up a pair blocks, along with a pair of UCI miscues to take the lead for good at 22-20.
SET WON ?
— CSUN Men's Volleyball (@CSUNMensVB) March 30, 2024
#16 CSUN ends the opening frame on a 9-2 run over #3 UC Irvine.#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/8oAKkoY7xI
- CSUN limited UCI to .120 and .121 hitting in the first two sets as the Matadors took advantage of a pair of kills and a UCI attack error to open up an 8-4 lead. A Phillips kill and another Anteater hitting error extended the CSUN lead to 11-5 before the visitors rallied back to within three at 15-12. But kills from Hobus and Phillips pushed the lead back to five and another Hobus kill on set point sent the Matadors to a second 25-21 win.
CSUN WINS SET TWO!
— CSUN Men's Volleyball (@CSUNMensVB) March 30, 2024
Hobus puts it away and the home team has won the first two sets by a score of 25-21.#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/btRzgaDo9c
- The Anteaters would get one set back in the third as UCI snapped a 6-6 tie by outscoring CSUN 7-3 over the next 10 points to open up a 13-9 cushion. The Anteater lead swelled to six (17-11) before the Matadors scored three straight, capped by a Lorenzo Bertozzi ace, to close to within 17-14. The visitors would answer with a 3-0 run to go back up five at 22-17 before CSUN made one last charge to pull within two (23-21) following a Phillips kill and a UCI hitting error. A co-block from Tello and Griffin Walters pulled the Matadors even at 24-24 when UCI claimed the final two points in a 26-24 win.
- The Matadors would hit .393 to UCI's .100 in the final set and would never trail after taking the opening point. With the score tied 6-6, UCI committed back-to-back hitting errors before CSUN would extend the lead to 11-7 following a Tello kill. After two Anteater points, kills from Hobus, Walters, and a solo block by Phillips opened up a 14-9 lead. Still leading by five at 19-14, the Matadors had to withstand a late UCI run that cut the margin to 21-17. But Tello's seventh kill of the night fueled a 4-1 CSUN run that clinched the 25-18 win.
CSUN TAKES IT! ??
— CSUN Men's Volleyball (@CSUNMensVB) March 30, 2024
That's back-to-back wins against top-3 ranked opponents.#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/T1OsTkcnsF
HEAD COACH THEO EDWARDS SAID "Exciting win for the team tonight. Nice to come back home after the trip to Hawai'i, we were a little concerned about how we would play coming off a big win on Saturday. It was a moment for us to try and re-focus and figure out if we could take it to UC Irvine, the number three team in the country. We did that against a great team that has some really great players. I thought we controlled things from the service line but they made some adjustments in set three, and it took us some time to get used to the changes but we eventually found our rhythm and groove. The test for us, especially this season, is to go to Irvine and be able to do this on back-to-back nights but we're excited for the challenge."
UP NEXTHear from head coach Theo Edwards following No. 16 #CSUN's 3-1 upset over No. 3 UC Irvine Friday in Northridge#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/2VmFFjkLvs
— CSUN Men's Volleyball (@CSUNMensVB) March 30, 2024
The same two teams match up again on Saturday as CSUN travels to UCI's Bren Center for a 6 p.m. first serve.
#GoMatadors
Team Stats
Irvine
CSUN
Kills
45
50
Errors
30
19
Attempts
128
112
Hitting %
.117
.277
Points
59.0
71.0
Assists
45
50
Aces
5
4
Blocks
9
17
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
19
Aces
3
Blocks
6
Kills
14
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's VolleyballOPP
/ Men's VolleyballMB
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's VolleyballCalHOPE Award Nathan Merren
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