Thursday, April 18
Manoa, HI
7:30 P.M.
California State University at Northridge
13-15,3-7Big West
3
vs
0
UC San Diego
12-15,4-6Big West
1
2
3
F
CSUN
25
28
25
3
UC San Diego
20
26
22
0
Photo by: Jay Metzger
CSUN Sweeps UC San Diego to Open Outrigger Big West Championship
4/18/2024 9:38:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
HONOLULU, O'ahu – CSUN's three pin hitters (Jalen Phillips, Griffin Walters, Kyle Hobus) combined for 38 of the Matadors' 46 kills as No. 5 seed CSUN knocked off No. 4 seed UC San Diego in straight sets to open the Outrigger Big West Men's Volleyball Championship Thursday night at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
The 25-20, 28-26, 25-22 win gave the Matadors their first postseason win since 2018 when CSUN defeated UC Santa Barbara, 3-1 at Long Beach State's Walter Pyramid.
In his first postseason match, Phillips led all hitters in the match with 15 kills, hitting .417 on 24 swings. Walters was unstoppable all night, connecting for 12 kills on 17 errorless swings to hit a career-high .706. Walters also added seven digs and a pair of aces in the win. Fellow senior Kyle Hobus chipped in 11 kills (.115) but had a big night at the service line with a match-high three aces.
After hitting a combined .258 over the first two sets, the Matadors hit a blistering .842 in the final set to wind up at .395 (46-14-81) for the match. CSUN would limit the Tritons to a .205 clip. CSUN setter Donovan Constable posted 36 assists, a match-high eight digs, three blocks, and two aces in another solid all-around match. Matador libero Chris Karnezis also made his first postseason start, recording six digs along with three assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
"Assistant coach Ryan Mason did a great job scouting this team and putting us in a position to be successful. We hit over .800 as a team in set three to close it out, really just an exciting match to be a part of. We'll celebrate this one a little bit then gear back up and re-focus for Long Beach State tomorrow night."
UP NEXT
CSUN advances to Friday's semifinal round where the Matadors will meet top-seeded Long Beach State at 7:30 p.m. PDT/4:30 p.m. HT at SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center.
#GoMatadors
The 25-20, 28-26, 25-22 win gave the Matadors their first postseason win since 2018 when CSUN defeated UC Santa Barbara, 3-1 at Long Beach State's Walter Pyramid.
In his first postseason match, Phillips led all hitters in the match with 15 kills, hitting .417 on 24 swings. Walters was unstoppable all night, connecting for 12 kills on 17 errorless swings to hit a career-high .706. Walters also added seven digs and a pair of aces in the win. Fellow senior Kyle Hobus chipped in 11 kills (.115) but had a big night at the service line with a match-high three aces.
After hitting a combined .258 over the first two sets, the Matadors hit a blistering .842 in the final set to wind up at .395 (46-14-81) for the match. CSUN would limit the Tritons to a .205 clip. CSUN setter Donovan Constable posted 36 assists, a match-high eight digs, three blocks, and two aces in another solid all-around match. Matador libero Chris Karnezis also made his first postseason start, recording six digs along with three assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Neither team could gain much separation in the early stages as CSUN led by just two on a pair of occasions. The Matadors would get a kill from Hobus to maintain a two-point edge at the media timeout (15-13). CSUN then extended the lead to a set-high three points (18-15) following a Phillips ace which forced UCSD's first timeout. After a Walters kill kept the lead at three (19-16), a Jano Tello kill and a Walters ace gave CSUN its largest lead at 21-16. The Matadors would go on to claim a five-point win on Phillips' second kill of the set, 25-20.
Phillips powers his 2nd kill of the set off the UCSD block and #CSUN takes the opening set 25-20#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/TBmas6L9gg
— CSUN Men's Volleyball (@CSUNMensVB) April 19, 2024
- A kill by Constable gave the Matadors a two-point lead (10-8) early in the second set when UCSD rallied behind a 7-3 run to take a 15-13 lead into the media timeout. The Tritons still led by two at 17-15 when CSUN engineered a 5-0 run, capped by another Walters kill, to take a 20-17 lead. The Tritons answered with a 4-1 run to tie the score at 21-21. Down 22-21, the Matadors scored three straight to set up a pair of set points at 24-22. UCSD would rally to send the set to extra points before a Phillips kill was followed by a Hobus ace giving CSUN the 28-26 win.
Hobus deals the ACE on set point and the Matadors come back to take a 28-26 win and a 2-set lead over UCSD!#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/wucUzvpuXl
— CSUN Men's Volleyball (@CSUNMensVB) April 19, 2024
- After being reverse swept by UCSD at home earlier this season, CSUN would out-hit the Tritons .842-.318 in closing out set three, 25-22. A Phillips kill and a UCSD hitting error gave the Matadors an early 6-2 lead. A Triton ace then capped an 8-4 UCSD run that tied the set for the only time at 10-10. CSUN would claim four straight points, the final coming on Hobus' third ace, opening up a 14-10 lead. The Tritons rallied back to within two on a pair of occasions, before ultimately closing to within one at 21-20. Following a CSUN timeout, the Matadors would answer with a 4-2 run to close out the 25-22 win.
A SWEEP to open the @BigWestSports Championship.
— CSUN Men's Volleyball (@CSUNMensVB) April 19, 2024
CSUN is heading to the semifinals.#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/auxaYZEAxv
HEAD COACH THEO EDWARDS SAID"Nice win tonight for CSUN volleyball. To be here in Hawai'i in front of this crowd and in this environment is exciting for our team. I tip my hat to San Diego, they had a great season and did some nice things on the court tonight. Griffin was absolutely fantastic tonight, hit over .700 and Donovan ran a great offense.
"Assistant coach Ryan Mason did a great job scouting this team and putting us in a position to be successful. We hit over .800 as a team in set three to close it out, really just an exciting match to be a part of. We'll celebrate this one a little bit then gear back up and re-focus for Long Beach State tomorrow night."
UP NEXT
CSUN advances to Friday's semifinal round where the Matadors will meet top-seeded Long Beach State at 7:30 p.m. PDT/4:30 p.m. HT at SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center.
#GoMatadors
Team Stats
CSUN
UCSD
Kills
46
27
Errors
14
12
Attempts
81
73
Hitting %
.395
.205
Points
59.5
41.5
Assists
42
24
Aces
8
5
Blocks
5.5
9.5
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
15
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
12
Aces
2
Blocks
1
Kills
11
Aces
3
Blocks
1
Kills
4
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
S
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's Volleyball
L
/ Men's VolleyballOPP
/ Men's VolleyballMB
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's VolleyballCalHOPE Award Nathan Merren
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