MATCH STATS
- #13 Cal State Northridge def. #15 Princeton 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-21)
- CSUN moves to 3-0; Princeton falls to 1-3
- Santa Barbara, California
- Attendance: 75
- Box Score
A day after knocking off No. 6 Stanford for the program’s biggest win in more than 20 years, the Princeton Tigers fell short against No. 13 Cal State Northridge, dropping to 1-3 on the season in the sweep.
The match, which was the fourth straight against top 12 foes for the Tigers, saw the Matadors win every scoring category, including a 9-3 lead in aces.
CSUN also outdid Princeton 41-28 in kills, .286 to .122 in hitting percentage and 9.5 to 8 in blocks.
Senior opposite Arvis Greene led the way for Northridge with a match-high 14 kills, a team-best four aces and three blocks. Junior outside hitter Dimitar Kalchev added 11 kills and junior middle blocker Eric Chance chipped in seven, while hitting at a match-high .600 clip (7-1-10). Redshirt freshman middle Gabe Vernoy put up a team-leading four stuffs.
Freshman outside Jess Hunt paced the Tigers with 11 kills. Sophomore outside Greg Luck was next on the team with five kills, but hit -.067 for the match. Sophomore middle George Huhmann accounted for a match-high five blocks and a team-leading two aces.
After hitting just .160 in the opening set, the Matadors recovered to hit .300 or better in the final two sets (.385 and .303).
In Set 1, Princeton led 6-4 only to be outscored 11-2 after that, falling behind 15-8. Three blocks aided the CSUN rally as did a pair of Greene aces. The Tigers narrowed the gap to four at 15-11, but could not break through. The Matadors ended the set on a 6-2 run, including aces by Greene and Kalchev and two Princeton errors.
The Tigers looked to have rebounded in Set 2, racing ahead 8-1 as four Northridge errors piled up. The Matadors chipped away and scored eight of the next 10 points after falling behind 17-12. An ace by Maciej Ptaszynski capped the run, which also included two kills by the freshman outside. The teams tied at 20 and 21, before Northridge closed things out with a 4-1 run, including a kill and a block by Chance.
The teams played to a 12-all tie in Set 3, before CSUN gained the advantage with four straight points. The Tigers did not go away, however, cutting the margin to one at 16-15 and later at 21-20 on an ace by Huhmann. A Lucas Timm kill kicked off a final 4-1 rally to wrap up the sweep. A Kalchev kill marked the final nail in the victory.
Final from the Santa Barbara: No. 11 #CSUN goes 3-0 at the #UCSB Invitional for the 3rd straight season after sweeping @PrincetonVolley 25-17, 25-22, 25-21 … Full recap to follow
— CSUN Mens Volleyball (@CSUNMensVB) January 6, 2018
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