California State University at Northridge
3-1,0-0Big West
Lindenwood
2-1,0-0MIVA
12th-Ranked CSUN Drops First of the Season in Four Sets at Lindenwood
1/16/2026 7:39:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
ST. CHARLES, Mo. — Junior Jalen Phillips pounded a match-high 19 kills, but 12th-ranked CSUN dropped its first match of the season as Lindenwood knocked off the Matadors in four sets at the Under Armour Challenge on Friday night at Robert F. Hyland Arena.
The Matadors hit .333 to claim the opening set 25-23 before the Lions responded by taking the final three sets (30-28, 28-26, 25-20) to secure the non-conference victory.
Phillips, who also had four block assists, finished the night with a match-high 20.5 points, hitting .385 on a season-high 39 swings. Sophomore Hank Kaufman added eight kills (.130) and three digs, and fellow sophomore Joao Favarim chipped in seven kills, hitting .600 on 10 attacks. Joao Avila and Jordan Lucas combined for 11 kills as Lucas came off the bench in the final set to hit .556 with five kills on nine swings.
Sophomore setter Owen Douphner had career-highs of 41 assists and nine digs, but the Matadors were out-hit by Lindenwood .347 (61-18-124) to .295 (50-17-112). The host Lions also claimed the advantage at the service line with seven aces to CSUN's two and the net with 11.5 team blocks to 7.0 for the Matadors.
After edging Lindenwood in a tightly contested first set, CSUN had chances to regain control in each of the next two frames. The Matadors were within two points late in both the second and third sets but couldn't close, as Lindenwood combined timely serving with an efficient attack to swing the match.
CSUN, which out-hit the Lions .222 to .187 in the third set, saved a pair of set points to knot the score at 24-24 following an Avila kill. The Matadors saved another at 26-25 when the Lions used a pair of CSUN errors to close out a 28-26 win.
The Lions, who out-hit CSUN .481 to .263 in the final frame, had four hitters with double figures in kills, led by Owen Walsh's team-high 14 (.722).
UP NEXT
CSUN (3-1) will look to bounce back on Saturday as the Matadors close out the Under Armour Challenge against Purdue Fort Wayne at 2 p.m. PT
#GoMatadors
