Thursday, April 17
Irvine, Calif.
6:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
18-9,3-6Big West
0
at
3
UC Irvine
19-6,5-4Big West
1
2
3
F
CSUN
14
16
18
0
UC Irvine
25
25
25
3
Photo by: Steve Fitzgerald
CSUN Stymied in Straight-Set Loss at No. 4 UC Irvine
4/17/2025 9:33:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
IRVINE, Calif. – The ninth-ranked CSUN Men's Volleyball team was swept for the just the third time this season, as the No. 4 UC Irvine Anteaters handed the Matadors a 25-14, 25-16, 25-18 loss in a Big West match Thursday night at the Bren Events Center.
CSUN (18-9, 3-6 Big West) was led by Jalen Phillips who had six kills (.000) while Stilian Delibosov, Shane Nhem and Hank Kaufman each added five kills. Nhem hit a team-high .455 on 11 errorless swings while Delibosov hit .444 on nine attacks, and Kaufman hit .300 in 10 swings off the bench.
The Matadors hit .174 (24-12-69) as a team while the host Anteaters connected at a .444 (39-7-72) clip. CSUN was also undone from the service line as UCI posted 12 aces as team to just one from Joao Avila for the Matadors. Senior setter Donovan Constable had 20 assists, two kills, one dig, and one block for CSUN in the loss.
S1 - UCI 25, CSUN 14 – The Matadors would manage just six kills as a team in the opening set, while hitting .080. The Anteaters raced out to a 6-1 lead and would never trail in the set. A Phillips kill and a UCI hitting error coming out of Matador timeout trimmed the deficit to 6-3 but UCI would answer with a 6-2 run to open up a 12-5 cushion. CSUN rallied back to within four at 14-10 and again at 15-11 before the Anteaters claimed 10 of the final 13 points to seal a 25-14 win.
S2 - UCI 25, CSUN 16 – The Matadors got off to a better start in the second set when a UCI service error gave CSUN a 5-4 lead. The Anteaters then claimed five of the next points to erase the Matador lead while opening up a 9-6 advantage. A block by Constable and Delibosov kept CSUN within two at 9-7 before UCI rallied behind a 6-3 run to lead 15-10 at the media timeout. A Kaufman kill out of the break cut the lead to four but the Matadors would get no closer as UCI opened up a two-set lead.
S3 – UCI 25, CSUN 18 - After connecting for 11 kills in the second set, CSUN would get only seven in the final set despite hitting .312 in the frame. Leading by two at 7-5, UCI outscored the Matadors 6-3 over the next nine points to force a CSUN timeout at 13-8. A Phillips kill kept the Matadors within four at 13-9 and CSUN would use a 7-4 run to close to within 17-15. But the hosts responded with a match-clinching 8-3 run to close out the 3-0 sweep.
UP NEXT
CSUN concludes the regular season on Saturday, hosting the same UC Irvine team at 6 p.m. The Matadors will honor seniors Lorenzo Bertozzi, Donovan Constable, and Matteo Salvador in a pre-match ceremony.
#GoMatadors
CSUN (18-9, 3-6 Big West) was led by Jalen Phillips who had six kills (.000) while Stilian Delibosov, Shane Nhem and Hank Kaufman each added five kills. Nhem hit a team-high .455 on 11 errorless swings while Delibosov hit .444 on nine attacks, and Kaufman hit .300 in 10 swings off the bench.
The Matadors hit .174 (24-12-69) as a team while the host Anteaters connected at a .444 (39-7-72) clip. CSUN was also undone from the service line as UCI posted 12 aces as team to just one from Joao Avila for the Matadors. Senior setter Donovan Constable had 20 assists, two kills, one dig, and one block for CSUN in the loss.
S1 - UCI 25, CSUN 14 – The Matadors would manage just six kills as a team in the opening set, while hitting .080. The Anteaters raced out to a 6-1 lead and would never trail in the set. A Phillips kill and a UCI hitting error coming out of Matador timeout trimmed the deficit to 6-3 but UCI would answer with a 6-2 run to open up a 12-5 cushion. CSUN rallied back to within four at 14-10 and again at 15-11 before the Anteaters claimed 10 of the final 13 points to seal a 25-14 win.
S2 - UCI 25, CSUN 16 – The Matadors got off to a better start in the second set when a UCI service error gave CSUN a 5-4 lead. The Anteaters then claimed five of the next points to erase the Matador lead while opening up a 9-6 advantage. A block by Constable and Delibosov kept CSUN within two at 9-7 before UCI rallied behind a 6-3 run to lead 15-10 at the media timeout. A Kaufman kill out of the break cut the lead to four but the Matadors would get no closer as UCI opened up a two-set lead.
S3 – UCI 25, CSUN 18 - After connecting for 11 kills in the second set, CSUN would get only seven in the final set despite hitting .312 in the frame. Leading by two at 7-5, UCI outscored the Matadors 6-3 over the next nine points to force a CSUN timeout at 13-8. A Phillips kill kept the Matadors within four at 13-9 and CSUN would use a 7-4 run to close to within 17-15. But the hosts responded with a match-clinching 8-3 run to close out the 3-0 sweep.
UP NEXT
CSUN concludes the regular season on Saturday, hosting the same UC Irvine team at 6 p.m. The Matadors will honor seniors Lorenzo Bertozzi, Donovan Constable, and Matteo Salvador in a pre-match ceremony.
#GoMatadors
Team Stats
CSUN
Irvine
Kills
24
39
Errors
12
7
Attempts
69
72
Hitting %
.174
.444
Points
28.0
57.5
Assists
23
38
Aces
1
12
Blocks
3
6.5
Game Leaders
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
5
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
5
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
4
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's VolleyballMB
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's VolleyballOPP
/ Men's VolleyballOPP
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's VolleyballCalHOPE Award Nathan Merren
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