Saturday, April 5
Northridge, Calif.
6:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
16-8,1-5Big West
0
vs
3
Hawai'i
22-3,5-1Big West
1
2
3
F
Hawaii
25
25
29
3
CSUN
18
21
27
0
Photo by: Chuck Marvel
Men's Volleyball Falls to No. 5 Hawai'i in Saturday Rematch
4/5/2025 9:28:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – One night after hitting over .500 in a 3-0 sweep, the No. 9 CSUN Men's Volleyball team was limited to a .164 clip as No. 5 Hawai'i salvaged the finale of the two-match set by sweeping the Matadors in a Big West match on Saturday at Premier America Credit Union Arena.
With the 25-18, 25-21, 29-27 win, the Rainbow Warriors improve to 22-3 overall and 5-1 in the Big West. The Matadors slip to 16-8 overall and 1-5 in conference play.
Sophomore opposite Jalen Phillips put down a match-high 16 to lead all hitters for the second straight match. Phillips hit .357 on 28 swings to go with a team-high four blocks. No other CSUN hitter had more than five kills as junior Shane Nhem added five on .364 hitting and Stilian Delibosov chipped in three kills (.600) and four blocks. Nhem and Joao Avila each had one ace as the Matadors were out-aced 8-3.
CSUN did post a 10-6 edge in blocks but Hawai'i hit .342 as a team while also posting an 18-14 edge in team digs.
S1 l UH 25, CSUN 18 – The Matadors led by as many as three in the early stage after a Nhem/Lorenzo Bertozzi opened up a 6-3 lead. CSUN maintained a three-point lead at 8-5 and again at 10-7 when UH put together a 10-5 run, capped by consecutive aces by Kristian Titriyski, to take a 17-15 lead. The Matadors would get within one at 17-16 and 18-17 before the Warriors closed the set on a 7-1 run to deal the 25-18 win.
S2 l UH 25, CSUN 21 – The visitors claimed seven of the opening 11 points of the second set before the margin grew to seven (15-8) following a UH ace. Still down six at 22-16, the Matadors rallied back to within three at 23-20 following a 4-1 run capped by a Phillips kill. But a pair of Titriyski kills down the stretch sent Hawai'i to the 25-21 win.
S3 l UH 29, CSUN 27 – The final set featured 19 ties and eight lead changes as the teams played to extra points. Neither team led by more than two until Hawai'i took advantage of a CSUN service error to lead 23-20. Still trailing by three and facing three match points at 24-21, the Matadors scored four unanswered for a 25-24 lead. Hawai'i then fended off three set points before Tread Rosenthal's kill gave UH its fourth match point. Kurt Nusterer's ace cashed in the Warriors' fourth chance at the match to seal the 29-27 victory.
HEAD COACH THEO EDWARDS SAID
"Back-to-back matches can be really tough. I think Hawaii did a great job putting pressure on us from the service line, and it was essentially the reverse of what we did to them last night. My message to the guys was that this weekend was progress, but figuring out how to be consistent in a league full of back-to-back matches is going to be an important part of our growth."
UP NEXT
CSUN opens up a two-match Big West series with the No. 10 UC San Diego at home on Thursday night at 6 p.m. The same two teams complete the series on Saturday in La Jolla at 7 p.m.
#GoMatadors
With the 25-18, 25-21, 29-27 win, the Rainbow Warriors improve to 22-3 overall and 5-1 in the Big West. The Matadors slip to 16-8 overall and 1-5 in conference play.
Sophomore opposite Jalen Phillips put down a match-high 16 to lead all hitters for the second straight match. Phillips hit .357 on 28 swings to go with a team-high four blocks. No other CSUN hitter had more than five kills as junior Shane Nhem added five on .364 hitting and Stilian Delibosov chipped in three kills (.600) and four blocks. Nhem and Joao Avila each had one ace as the Matadors were out-aced 8-3.
CSUN did post a 10-6 edge in blocks but Hawai'i hit .342 as a team while also posting an 18-14 edge in team digs.
S1 l UH 25, CSUN 18 – The Matadors led by as many as three in the early stage after a Nhem/Lorenzo Bertozzi opened up a 6-3 lead. CSUN maintained a three-point lead at 8-5 and again at 10-7 when UH put together a 10-5 run, capped by consecutive aces by Kristian Titriyski, to take a 17-15 lead. The Matadors would get within one at 17-16 and 18-17 before the Warriors closed the set on a 7-1 run to deal the 25-18 win.
S2 l UH 25, CSUN 21 – The visitors claimed seven of the opening 11 points of the second set before the margin grew to seven (15-8) following a UH ace. Still down six at 22-16, the Matadors rallied back to within three at 23-20 following a 4-1 run capped by a Phillips kill. But a pair of Titriyski kills down the stretch sent Hawai'i to the 25-21 win.
S3 l UH 29, CSUN 27 – The final set featured 19 ties and eight lead changes as the teams played to extra points. Neither team led by more than two until Hawai'i took advantage of a CSUN service error to lead 23-20. Still trailing by three and facing three match points at 24-21, the Matadors scored four unanswered for a 25-24 lead. Hawai'i then fended off three set points before Tread Rosenthal's kill gave UH its fourth match point. Kurt Nusterer's ace cashed in the Warriors' fourth chance at the match to seal the 29-27 victory.
HEAD COACH THEO EDWARDS SAID
"Back-to-back matches can be really tough. I think Hawaii did a great job putting pressure on us from the service line, and it was essentially the reverse of what we did to them last night. My message to the guys was that this weekend was progress, but figuring out how to be consistent in a league full of back-to-back matches is going to be an important part of our growth."
UP NEXT
CSUN opens up a two-match Big West series with the No. 10 UC San Diego at home on Thursday night at 6 p.m. The same two teams complete the series on Saturday in La Jolla at 7 p.m.
#GoMatadors
Team Stats
Hawaii
CSUN
Kills
42
27
Errors
16
16
Attempts
76
67
Hitting %
.342
.164
Points
56.0
40.0
Assists
35
25
Aces
8
3
Blocks
6
10
Game Leaders
Kills
16
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
5
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Kills
3
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
2
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's VolleyballMB
/ Men's VolleyballOPP
/ Men's VolleyballOPP
/ Men's VolleyballCalHOPE Award Nathan Merren
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