CSUN Top 10 – No. 4 Men’s Volleyball Sweeps #9 UC San Diego on the Road

From June 27 to August 1, GoMatadors.com will present its top-10 CSUN sports moments from the 2021-22 year. At No. 4, the CSUN Men's Volleyball team upsetting ninth-ranked UC San Diego in a three-set sweep on Mar. 31.
 

Behind a combined 23 kills from Kyle Hobus and Daniel Wetter, the CSUN Men's Volleyball team knocked off No. 9 UC San Diego in straight sets to earn its first Big West win of the season Mar. 31 at RIMAC Arena in La Jolla.

The Matadors won the match by set scores of 25-23, 25-21, 25-19 as CSUN snapped a seven-match skid. Hobus led all hitters in the match with 12 kills, hitting .417 on 24 swings while Wetter added 11 kills on .529 hitting as both players committed just two hitting errors apiece. Hobus also added six digs and five blocks while also serving one ace and Wetter chipped in a pair of blocks along with one dig.

"We've been getting better every week and it's been a little frustrating when you compete night in and night out and don't have wins to show for it," said CSUN head coach Jeff Campbell. "But the fact that we competed again tonight and earned a win over a good team makes a big difference. I thought we really played well and caused them a lot of problems. The big difference was I thought we played loose and relaxed tonight."

CSUN also received eight kills (.316) and seven digs from Griffin Walters along with six kills apiece from Lorenzo Bertozzi and Olumide Allen. Bertozzi (.133) had one ace and a season-high seven digs while Allen had four blocks while hitting .545. The Matador middles, Allen and Wetter, combined to hit .536 on 28 attacks in the win. Matador setter Donovan Constable had 35 assists, three digs and one ace in leading CSUN to a .368 (43-11-87) hitting clip, the best for the Matadors since hitting .433 against Vanguard on Feb. 9. Joe Picone had a match-high nine digs as CSUN out-dug the Tritons 34-25. CSUN also held a hot-hitting UCSD team to a .141 (29-17-85) hitting clip.

SET 1
The Tritons opened up a an early two-point lead (4-2) before a kill and an ace from Hobus tied the score. The score was tied at 5-5 and again at 6-6 when Walters put away a UCSD overpass and Hobus connected for a kill putting the Matadors up 8-6. After the hosts pulled even at 9-9, CSUN outscored UCSD 6-3 to take a 15-12 lead into the media timeout. The Tritons rallied out of the timeout to even the set at 16-16 following a 4-1 run before a UCSD service error put the Matadors back in front to stay. Still clinging to a one-point lead at 18-17, CSUN used a kill by Allen and a Triton setting error to open up a 20-17 cushion. Another Hobus kill kept the Matador lead at three (23-20) and despite UCSD getting within one at 23-22 and 24-23, Hobus' sixth kill of the set sent CSUN to the 25-23 win. 

SET 2
A Triton hitting error opened the second set and the Matadors would lead a majority of the set. CSUN would lead by two on three separate occasions, the last at 8-6 following a Walters kill before three straight UCSD points put the Tritons back in front. With the score tied at 10-10, a Wetter kill fueled a 7-1 run by the Matadors that opened up CSUN's largest lead at 17-11. Three straight points by the Tritons forced a Matador timeout at 17-14 before a Hobus kill ended the run. CSUN still led by three at 19-16 when the hosts claimed four of the next seven points to pull within 22-20. But a UCSD service error along with kills from Walters and Hobus on set point put the Matadors up two sets following the 25-21 win.
  
SET 3
A Bertozzi kill gave CSUN an early 6-3 lead and despite the score being tied six times, CSUN never trailed from that point on. After a Triton kill knotted the score for the ninth and final time in the set at 16-16, the Matadors used an Allen kill and an Allen-Hobus block to take an 18-16 lead. A Walters service error on the ensuing point cut the lead to one when another Allen kill was followed by a Hobus solo block and a Wetter kill as the Matadors forced a UCSD timeout with the Tritons trailing 21-17. Another Wetter kill out of the timeout increased the lead to five (22-17) and the Matadors would pull away down the stretch to win by six at 25-19.

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