No. 8 Cal State Northridge came into Friday night riding high at 5-0 and coming off a sweep of No. 16 Stanford, but a sixth-straight win was not in the cards as the Matadors fell to Concordia-Irvine at home in four sets. Raymond Barsemian (15) and senior outside Jonathan Predney (14) paced the Eagles to the upset victory.
Meanwhile, No. 3 BYU and No. 18 UC San Diego took care of business, winning at home in sweeps.
No. 3 BYU def. Barton (RV) 3-0 (25-12, 25-15, 25-17)
- BYU moves to 4-1; Barton falls to 0-4
- Provo, Utah
- Box Score
- BYU Recap / Barton Recap
Key Statistics: A 14.5 block effort, including eight by senior middle blocker Price Jarman, helped BYU limit Barton to a .016 hitting effort in a sweep Friday night. The Cougars also were aided by a .500 offensive effort or their own led by sophomore outside hitter Storm Fa’agata-Tufuga.
BYU outdid Barton 33-21 in kills, 10-2 in aces and 14.5 to 3.5 in blocks. All nine BYU players that were credited with a kill in the match hit at a .300 or better clip, with seven hitting .500 or better.
Stat Leaders: Fa’agata-Tufuga downed 12 kills and three aces, while hitting .529 to pace the team in the match. Freshman opposite Gabi Garcia Fernandez followed with seven kills on a .500 hitting effort, while also putting up six stuffs and serving up three aces of the team’s 10 aces. Senior setter Leo Durkin notched 31 assists, seven digs and five blocks.
Junior outside Aleksa Brkovic paced Barton with eight kills, but hit just .050 for the match (8-7-20). Five other players turned in kills, including sophomore right side Angelos Mandailaris, who put down four and junior outside Vasilis Mandilaris and redshirt sophomore setter Oscar Fiorentino, who accounted for three each. Angelos Madnilaris put up a team-high two blocks, while Fiorentino and Brkovic each served up an ace.
It Was Over When: After BYU dominated the first two sets, Set 3 was a much different affair with Barton rallying from a 3-1 deficit to take a 7-6 lead of its own. An ace and a kill by Brkovic highlighted the scoring run. The teams tied at 7 and 8, before BYU pulled away with a 3-0 run, including two Fa’agata-Tufuga putaways. The Cougars stretched their lead to seven at 19-12 as Jarman turned in two blocks. Barton would get no closer than six the rest of the way. A Tanner Skabelund kill ended the night at 25-17.
Concordia-Irvine def. No. 8 Cal State Northridge 3-1 (25-20, 21-25, 25-18, 25-20)
- Concordia-Irvine moves to 2-0; Cal State Northridge falls to 5-1
- Northridge, California
- Box Score
- Concordia Recap / CSUN Recap
Key Stats: A more efficient offensive attack was the difference for Concordia in a tight four-set win over Cal State Northridge. The Eagles committed seven less errors and outhit the Matadors .291 to .191 in the match. CUI also bested CSUN 9-7 in aces and 15-14 in blocks.
Stat Leaders: Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Raymond Barsemian (15) and senior outside Jonathan Predney (14) paced Concordia with double-digit kill efforts, hitting .289 and .286 respectively. Each served up two aces as did junior middle blocker Hunter Howell and redshirt sophomore outside Parker Maki. Howell also accounted for a team-best six blocks, including four solo affairs, followed by redshirt junior setter Chandler Gibb (5). Gibb rounded out a double-double with 10 digs, alongside senior libero Jacob Weiser.
Junior outside Dimitar Kalchev downed a match-high 16 kills followed by sophomore outside Ksawery Tomsia (9) and junior middle Eric Chance (7), but it was not enough. Senior opposite Arvis Greene missed his third straight match due to injury. Chance put up a match-high eight blocks, including four solo efforts, while freshman outside Maciej Ptaszynski added five stuffs.
It Was Over When: After trailing 5-3 early, Concordia rallied with eight of the next nine points. Barsemian downed three kills and served up an ace, while Gibb and Taylor Falduti teamed up for a pair of blocks to put the Eagles up 11-6. Back-to-back kills by Predney and one from Howell pushed the edge to seven at 14-7. Later, down 20-13, Northridge began to chip away, scoring seven of the next 10 to slice the margin to three at 23-20. Three Concordia service errors couple with aces by Kalchev and Ptaszynski narrowed the gap. Concordia looked to Barsemian and Howell to finish the match with kills.
Concordia hit .560 in the final stanza, with just two errors (16-2-25), while holding CSUN to a .100 effort (9-6-30).
No. 18 UC San Diego def. UC Santa Cruz 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-16)
- UCSD moves to 4-1; UC Santa Cruz falls to 6-1
- La Jolla, California
- Box Score
- UCSD Recap / UC Santa Cruz Recap
Key Statistics: A dominant and balanced offensive effort coupled with a tough block lifted UCSD to the sweep. The Tritons hit at a .348 clip as a team, while four players turned in eight or more kills. UC San Diego bested Santa Cruz 47-29 in kills, 9.5-5 in blocks and 5-2 in aces.
Stat Leaders: Senior opposite Tanner Syftestad registered a match-high 14 kills and served up four aces to lead UC San Diego. Senior middle Alec Flowers (9), junior outside Nathan Thalken (8) and redshirt senior middle Bryan Zhu (8) followed offensively, each hitting .375 or better. Flowers hit at a .900 clip, with nine kills in 10 errorless swings, while also putting up a match-leading six blocks.
Senior outside Lake Merchen was tops among the Banana Slugs with 12 kills to go with six digs and an ace. Senior outside Ryan Manley chipped in six kills and a match-high seven digs. Junior middle Justin Fortner managed two blocks and four kills, but hit .000 on the night.
It Was Over When: UCSD outhit Santa Cruz .318 to .000 in the final stanza as the Banana Slugs committed nine errors alongside their nine kills, and the Tritons managed an 82 percent sideout effort. It was close early on with the teams tying at every point one through nine. UC San Diego pulled away with a 10-2 run, including three blocks by Flowers and four other Santa Cruz miscues. The Banana Slugs were within seven at 21-14, but the Tritons scored three straight, including kills by Thalken and Drew Sloane to earn a match-point try at 24-14. A Bryce Curtis putaway ended the night at 25-16.
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