California State University at Northridge
4-0,0-0Big West
Purdue Fort Wayne
1-1,0-0MIVA
No. 15 CSUN Opens UA Challenge With 3-0 Sweep Over Purdue Fort Wayne
1/17/2025 10:05:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
CSUN won by set scores of 25-15, 25-20, 27-25 to remain unbeaten at 4-0, the Matadors' best start since opening the 2018 season at 5-0. Phillips was virtually unstoppable in the win, hitting .471 while connecting for his 19 kills on 34 swings with just a trio of hitting errors. Senior Lorenzo Bertozzi also hit well with nine kills (.316), five digs, and one ace while Joao Avila chipped in five kills (.273) and four digs.
Constable had a solid all-around match with 33 assists, five digs, three aces, one kill, and one block while leading the CSUN hitters to a .385 (40-10-78) hitting clip.
The Matadors, who out-blocked the Mastodons 7.5 to 3.5, limited Purdue Fort Wayne to a .215 team hitting clip. Behind libero Chris Karnezis' season-high eight digs, CSUN had 26 team digs to 18 for PFW.
SET 1: CSUN 25, PFW 15
The Matadors opened the match claiming six of the first eight points, forcing an early PFW timeout. After the Mastodons scored twice to cut the deficit to 6-4, CSUN outscored the visitors 12-4 over the next 16 points to open up a double-digit lead at 18-8 following a Joao Favarim kill. The Matadors, who hit .417 in the set, would not see their lead dip below nine points the remainder of the frame as Avila's kill on set point sent CSUN to the 25-15 win.
SET WON.
— CSUN Men's Volleyball (@CSUNMensVB) January 18, 2025
CSUN takes it 25-15 in the home opener.#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/4c3Kr27tOp
SET 2: CSUN 25, PFW 20
The Matadors would dominate the second set as well, ramping their team hitting clip to .632 in winning 25-20. CSUN led 8-5 following an unsuccessful challenge by the Mastodons, before extending the margin to five at 13-8 following a Phillips kill. CSUN maintained a five-point lead (15-10) at the media timeout, before Purdue Fort Wayne put together a 3-0 run to cut the deficit to two. The Matadors responded by outscoring the Mastodons 10-7 down the stretch to close out the 25-20 win.
CSUN takes a commanding 2-0 lead after winning the second frame 25-20.#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/HrDDukWZz7
— CSUN Men's Volleyball (@CSUNMensVB) January 18, 2025
SET 3: CSUN 27, PFW 25
The final set proved to be the tightest of the match as the score was tied 13 times as the lead changed hands four times. With the score tied 4-4 early on, the 'Dons engineered a 4-1 run to force a CSUN timeout at 8-5. A 6-3 Matador run out of the timeout tied the set at 11-11 and the score was tied six more times, the last at 19-19. A Mastodon hitting error and a Phillips kill gave CSUN a 21-19 lead and the Matadors stayed up two (24-22) when Stilian Delibosov connected in the middle. Purdue Fort Wayne would get a pair of kills to save two match points and would save another at 25-24 before Phillips put down his 18th and 19th kills of the match sending CSUN to the 27-25 win.
JALEN PHILLIPS FOR THE WIN.
— CSUN Men's Volleyball (@CSUNMensVB) January 18, 2025
His 19th kill secures the sweep.#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/CR4ZHtYTt7
NOTES
- With the victory, CSUN improves to 12-3 all-time against Purdue Fort Wayne.
- The loss drops the Mastodons to 1-1 on the season.
HEAD COACH THEO EDWARDS SAID
"I thought we played well. Specifically, I thought Donovan (Constable) did a really nice job and set a good offense. Jalen (Phillips) was fantastic, they really didn't have an answer for him and I thought he led the way for us the entire match. Tomorrow's match against Lindenwood is going to be a great challenge for us, so we're excited for it."
CSUN plays its final match of the Under Armour Challenge on Saturday at 7 p.m., as the Matadors take on Lindenwood (1-2). The match will be preceded by No. 17 UC San Diego taking on Purdue Fort Wayne at 4 p.m. Both matches will stream on ESPN+.
#GoMatadors
