Thursday, April 24
Honolulu, O'ahu
10:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
18-11,3-7Big West
2
vs
3
UC Irvine
21-6,6-4Big West
1
2
3
4
5
F
CSUN
25
18
25
23
17
2
UC Irvine
22
25
16
25
19
3
Photo by: Big West Conference
CSUN Ousted by UCI in Five-Set Big West Championship Heartbreaker
4/24/2025 11:58:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
HONOLULU, O'ahu – The sixth-seeded CSUN Men's Volleyball team battled the No. 3 seed UC Irvine Anteaters through five grueling sets before falling 3-2 in an Outrigger Big West Championship First Round match Thursday night at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
CSUN (18-11) was led by Jalen Phillips who matched his career high with 27 kills, hitting .364 on 55 swings. Freshman Stilian Delibosov added 13 kills on 17 errorless attacks to hit .765, and senior Lorenzo Bertozzi chipped in a double-double with 11 kills (.172) and a match-high 10 digs. Fellow freshman Joao Avila also had nine kills, hitting .467 on 15 attacks to go with nine digs and two blocks.
In his final match as a Matador, senior setter Donovan Constable had 55 assists, three digs, and three blocks as CSUN hit .359 as a team. The Matadors served seven aces, two each from Delibosov, Phillps, and Boaz Serson, while also posting 46 team digs.
S1 - CSUN 25, UCI 22 – The Matadors, who out-hit the Anteaters .444 to .265 in the opening set, claimed the first four points of the match. Irvine would trim the lead to three at 7-4, 8-5, and again at 10-7 before a Delibosov ace pushed the lead back to four at 12-8. CSUN would lead by as many as five at 13-8 and 14-9 before the Anteaters rallied behind a 9-5 run to knot the score at 18-18. The score remained tied at 20-20 when the Matadors claimed five of the final seven points, the last two points coming on a UCI hitting error and a Phillips kill.
S2 - UCI 25, CSUN 18 – The Anteaters flipped the script in set two, out-hitting the Matadors .536 to .206 to tie the match at one set apiece. CSUN trailed by six (15-9) at the media timeout before two UCI points forced a Matador timeout at 17-9. The Anteater lead swelled to as many as nine at 19-10 before UCI closed out a 25-18 win.
S3 – CSUN 25, UCI 16 - With CSUN trailing 6-5, a Phillips ace sent the Matadors on a 4-0 run to open up a 9-6 lead. Behind the strength of Serson's serving, CSUN would open up a 16-14 lead. The Matadors would put away a UCI overpass to lead 17-14 forcing an Anteater timeout. Another Serson ace opened up a 19-14 lead and after Delibosov put away a UCI overpass, CSUN led 21-15. An Avila ace boosted the lead to 24-16 before the Matadors closed out the 25-16 win.
S4 – UCI 25, CSUN 23 - The Anteaters opened up an early 7-2 lead and maintained a five-point edge at 9-4 following an ace. UCI forced a CSUN timeout at 10-4 before boostig the lead to 11-5. The Matadors would rally back to within four at 22-18 before an Avila kill trimmed the lead to 23-20. Following an Anteater timeout, a Delibosov block and a Phillips kill capped a 4-0 CSUN run that cut the lead to one at 23-22. The Matadors would save one set point at 24-22 when UCI cashed in their next swing.
S5 – UCI 19, CSUN 17 - The Matadors jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the final set and would lead by as many as four at 10-6. UCI answered with a 4-0 run to tie the score which remained knotted at 12-12 and 13-13. A Phillips kill gave CSUN its first of four match points at 14-13 but UCI would save all four. The Matadors had swings at the match at 15-14, 16-15 and 17-16 when the Anteaters claimed the final three points in a 19-17 win.
HEAD COACH THEO EDWARDS SAID
"Give a lot of credit to Irvine and the way that they played. They've been a great team all year, and the level of play tonight was fantastic across the board. The Big West is one of the top conferences in the country, and these two first- round matches were pretty incredible. It was a tough one for us tonight, but I'm incredibly proud of the guys."
#GoMatadors
CSUN (18-11) was led by Jalen Phillips who matched his career high with 27 kills, hitting .364 on 55 swings. Freshman Stilian Delibosov added 13 kills on 17 errorless attacks to hit .765, and senior Lorenzo Bertozzi chipped in a double-double with 11 kills (.172) and a match-high 10 digs. Fellow freshman Joao Avila also had nine kills, hitting .467 on 15 attacks to go with nine digs and two blocks.
In his final match as a Matador, senior setter Donovan Constable had 55 assists, three digs, and three blocks as CSUN hit .359 as a team. The Matadors served seven aces, two each from Delibosov, Phillps, and Boaz Serson, while also posting 46 team digs.
S1 - CSUN 25, UCI 22 – The Matadors, who out-hit the Anteaters .444 to .265 in the opening set, claimed the first four points of the match. Irvine would trim the lead to three at 7-4, 8-5, and again at 10-7 before a Delibosov ace pushed the lead back to four at 12-8. CSUN would lead by as many as five at 13-8 and 14-9 before the Anteaters rallied behind a 9-5 run to knot the score at 18-18. The score remained tied at 20-20 when the Matadors claimed five of the final seven points, the last two points coming on a UCI hitting error and a Phillips kill.
S2 - UCI 25, CSUN 18 – The Anteaters flipped the script in set two, out-hitting the Matadors .536 to .206 to tie the match at one set apiece. CSUN trailed by six (15-9) at the media timeout before two UCI points forced a Matador timeout at 17-9. The Anteater lead swelled to as many as nine at 19-10 before UCI closed out a 25-18 win.
S3 – CSUN 25, UCI 16 - With CSUN trailing 6-5, a Phillips ace sent the Matadors on a 4-0 run to open up a 9-6 lead. Behind the strength of Serson's serving, CSUN would open up a 16-14 lead. The Matadors would put away a UCI overpass to lead 17-14 forcing an Anteater timeout. Another Serson ace opened up a 19-14 lead and after Delibosov put away a UCI overpass, CSUN led 21-15. An Avila ace boosted the lead to 24-16 before the Matadors closed out the 25-16 win.
S4 – UCI 25, CSUN 23 - The Anteaters opened up an early 7-2 lead and maintained a five-point edge at 9-4 following an ace. UCI forced a CSUN timeout at 10-4 before boostig the lead to 11-5. The Matadors would rally back to within four at 22-18 before an Avila kill trimmed the lead to 23-20. Following an Anteater timeout, a Delibosov block and a Phillips kill capped a 4-0 CSUN run that cut the lead to one at 23-22. The Matadors would save one set point at 24-22 when UCI cashed in their next swing.
S5 – UCI 19, CSUN 17 - The Matadors jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the final set and would lead by as many as four at 10-6. UCI answered with a 4-0 run to tie the score which remained knotted at 12-12 and 13-13. A Phillips kill gave CSUN its first of four match points at 14-13 but UCI would save all four. The Matadors had swings at the match at 15-14, 16-15 and 17-16 when the Anteaters claimed the final three points in a 19-17 win.
HEAD COACH THEO EDWARDS SAID
"Give a lot of credit to Irvine and the way that they played. They've been a great team all year, and the level of play tonight was fantastic across the board. The Big West is one of the top conferences in the country, and these two first- round matches were pretty incredible. It was a tough one for us tonight, but I'm incredibly proud of the guys."
#GoMatadors
Team Stats
CSUN
Irvine
Kills
64
69
Errors
17
17
Attempts
131
144
Hitting %
.359
.361
Points
77.0
81.0
Assists
61
66
Aces
7
5
Blocks
6
7
Game Leaders
Kills
27
Aces
2
Blocks
0
Kills
13
Aces
2
Blocks
4
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
9
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's VolleyballMB
/ Men's VolleyballOPP
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
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