Press Release courtesy of CSUN Athletics
MATCH #1:
No. 11 CSUN Matadors (0-0) vs. St. Francis Red Flash (0-0)
Thursday, Jan. 4, 2018 – 4:00 p.m. PT
Rob Gym – Santa Barbara, Calif.
Live Stats
In-game Twitter updates: @CSUNMensVB
MATCH #2:
No. 11 CSUN Matadors (0-0) vs. NJIT Highlanders (0-0)
Friday, Jan. 5, 2018 – 10:00 a.m. PT
The Thunderdome – Santa Barbara, Calif.
Live Stats
In-game Twitter updates: @CSUNMensVB
MATCH #3:
No. 11 CSUN Matadors (0-0) vs. Princeton Tigers (0-1)
Saturday, Jan. 6, 2018 – 12:00 p.m. PT
Rob Gym – Santa Barbara, Calif.
Live Stats
In-game Twitter updates: @CSUNMensVB
FOR STARTERS
The CSUN Matadors (0-0) open their 42nd season of men’s volleyball Thursday as the Matadors play the first of three matches at UC Santa Barbara’s annual Asics Invitational.
CSUN, opening its first season as a member of the six-team Big West Conference, takes on Saint Francis (0-0) Thursday at 4 p.m. at UCSB’s Rob Gym. The Matadors next take on NJIT (0-0) in The Thunderdome Friday at 10 a.m. before concluding the tournament Saturday at noon against Princeton (0-1) back in Rob Gym.
FOLLOW YOUR MATADORS ONLINE
Follow CSUN Matadors volleyball on-line at the official home of CSUN athletics, www.GoMatadors.com. All home matches will feature live stats and will be streamed live by the CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health via Big West TV. For road matches, related links to the match, including for any live stats, audio and video, will be posted before the match on the men’s volleyball schedule page of GoMatadors.com.
Fans are also encouraged to check the CSUN Athletics Department’s official Twitter feed (@GoMatadors) and the volleyball-specific feed (@CSUNMensVB) for news and notes throughout the week as well as updates of matches in progress.
MATADORS RANKED 11TH IN AVCA COACHES TOP-15 PRESEASON POLL
The CSUN men’s volleyball team earned 99 points and was ranked 11th in the AVCA Division I-II Coaches Top-15 Preseason Poll it was announced on Dec. 7. The ranking marked the Matadors’ highest preseason ranking since being slotted ninth in 2010, CSUN’s last trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Matadors have now been ranked in the AVCA Top-15 in 233 of the last 259 weekly polls dating back to the 2002 season.
Defending National Champion Ohio State, which totaled 361 points and 19 first-place votes, was voted number one followed by fellow Big West squads Long Beach State (second, 345 points), Hawai’i (fifth, 274 points) and UC Irvine (seventh, 204 points).
Former MPSF rivals filled out much of the remaining top 10 as BYU (326) was tabbed third, UCLA (297) fourth and Stanford (194) ninth. Lewis came in sixth with 248 points followed by Penn State (172) and Pepperdine (163) at nine and 10. After CSUN, the remainder of the top 15 was USC (89), Loyola Chicago (76), Ball State (68) and Grand Canyon (55).
SCOUTING REPORTS
Saint Francis (0-0): The Red Flash return five starters from last season’s team that finished 16-15 overall and 10-4 in the EIVA. Outside hitter Stephen Braswell, an All-EIVA selection in 2017, averaged 2.52 kills per set last season. Saint Francis was picked seventh in the EIVA preseason poll.
NJIT (0-0): The Highlanders, also out of the EIVA, were picked to finish sixth in the conference’s preseason poll. Redshirt senior opposite Raymond Kowalski is NJIT’s returning leader in kills after averaging 2.74 in 2017.
Princeton (0-1): The Tigers dropped their season opener in four sets at No. 12 USC on Tuesday despite 20 kills from sophomore middle George Huhmann. Princeton was picked up as the runner-up to Penn State in the EIVA preseason poll.
SERIES STORIES
Thursday’s match is just the second meeting all-time between CSUN and Saint Francis. The Matadors took the first meeting in straight sets at the 2015 UCSB Asics Invitational behind 12 kills from middle Greg Faulkner. Friday marks the fourth all-time meeting between CSUN and NJIT with the Matadors undefeated in the three previous meetings. The two teams last met in Santa Barbara in 2016 with CSUN taking a 3-0 win as Jakub Ciesla put down 13 kills. The Matadors dropped their only previous match to Princeton as the Tigers knocked off CSUN in five sets at the 2015 UCSB Invitational.
CSUN AT THE UCSB ASICS INVITATIONAL
For the fourth straight year, the format of the UCSB Asics Invitational features four West Coast teams (CSUN, Long Beach State, Stanford, UC Santa Barbara) taking on non-conference teams from the Midwest/East Coast (NJIT, Princeton, Saint Francis). Last season, the Matadors dropped a single set in defeating Quincy (3-0), Fort Wayne (3-1) and Mount Olive (3-0). Friday marks the Matadors’ 15th straight appearance in UC Santa Barbara’s annual tournament.
In years past the 48-year old tournament was called the UCSB/Elephant Bar Invitational but was renamed the UCSB Asics Invitational in 2012. CSUN has now played in the tournament 19 times since 1996. The Matadors did not participate in either 2001 or 2002. CSUN won its first-ever tournament championship in 2009 after upsetting No. 2 UCLA (3-1) and defeating No. 14 UCSB (3-1) and No. 8 Stanford (3-1). The Matadors then won their second straight crown in 2010 topping UCSB (3-1), Cal Baptist (3-1) and BYU (3-1). All-time, the Matadors are 45-30 (.600) in UC Santa Barbara’s tournament.
CSUN BIDS FAREWELL TO MPSF, WELCOMES BIG WEST IN 2018
The Matadors’ 2017 season finale against Long Beach State marked the final match for the Matadors as a member of the MPSF. CSUN will be among the six schools forming the new Big West Conference beginning this March.
In 33 years as a member of the WIVA/MPSF, CSUN has played a total of 657 conference matches, posting an overall record of 285-372. Since 1984, the Matadors have finished as high as second (1990, 1991) when the WIVA was divided into two divisions. The 1992 and 1993 CSUN teams under John Price advanced to the WIVA Tournament championship match with the 1993 team defeating Long Beach State. Since the MPSF formed a single division in 2002, CSUN has finished as high as third (2009, 2010) in the regular season before advancing to the MPSF Tournament championship match in 2010.
The Matadors will be joined by Hawaii, Long Beach State, UC Irvine, UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara as inaugural members when the conference season kicks off Mar. 2.
KALCHEV CLAIMS SINGLE SEASON ACES RECORD
With 63 aces in 2017, junior outside hitter Dimitar Kalchev broke Eric Vance’s eight-year record for aces in a single season. Kalchev now holds down two spots in the CSUN single season top 10 as he also ranks 10th after serving 45 as a freshman in 2016. Then a CSUN sophomore, Kalchev averaged 0.63 aces per set which led the MPSF and ranked second nationally to Ohio State’s Nicolas Szerszen who averaged 0.64 aces per set.
MATADORS ADD NEW FACES IN 2018
The CSUN roster returns the core of the 2017 squad but also adds many new faces in 2018. All-American opposite Arvis Greene and All-MPSF outside hitter Dimitar Kalchev return along with senior Josiah Byers, juniors Eric Chance, Schylar Lillethorup, Sam Porter to provide the Matadors with experience and leadership this season. A host of players who were in the program last year (Ksawery Tomsia, Domanik Stratford, Lucas Timm, Philip Barker) figure to add to the veteran mix along with first year players Emmett Enriques, Sean Mitchell, Maciej Ptaszynski and Paul Rzepniewski also could make an immediate impact in 2018.
MATADOR NOTES
Arvis Greene, CSUN’s first AVCA All-American since 2010, comes into his senior season with 496 career kills after putting down a team-high 359 kills in 2017. Sam Porter comes into his junior season ranked 10th in CSUN history with 1,925 career assists. Dimitar Kalchev ranks sixth in career aces with 108 in two seasons. Eric Chance ranks seventh in CSUN’s Rally Scoring era with a .414 career hitting percentage … The Matadors come into Thursday’sopener against Saint Francis with a 24-16 (.600) in 40 previous season openers. Last season, CSUN opened the season and the home schedule with a 3-0 win over Concordia-Irvine which gave the Matadors consecutive season opening wins after five straight season opening losses.
LOOKING AHEAD
Following three matches in Santa Barbara this week, the Matadors return to Northridge to open the 2018 home schedule Jan. 12 against UC Merced. CSUN then hits the road to face former MPSF foe Stanford on Jan. 17 in Maples Pavilion.
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