CSUN over Lewis in 3

[swingaway]

March 6th 2007
Matadors Win Third Straight With 3-0 Win Over Lewis

Box Score

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - Senior Dan Rhodes knocked down a match-high 17 kills and Eric Vance added 12 as No. 9 Cal State Northridge downed Lewis University 30-22, 30-21, 30-20 in a non-conference match Tuesday at The Matadome.

The win is the Matadors' third straight as Northridge improves to 11-9. The loss drops the Flyers to 11-6.

Rhodes and Vance both hit well as they had just five errors in 52 swings between them. Rhodes hit .483 with three aces while Vance hit .435 and served a pair of aces. Isaac Kneubuhl was also effective as the junior had nine kills while hitting .500. Kneubuhl also had a match-high seven digs while setter Sean Pedersen recorded 36 assists and five digs as Northridge hit an impressive .471 (51-10-87).

For Lewis, David Kelnhofer posted a team-high 13 kills while hitting .440. Drew Pickering added five kills but hit just .056 and Billy Sahagian added three kills and served two of the Flyers' three aces in the match. The Matadors limited Lewis to a .136 (31-19-88) hitting clip.

The Flyers jumped out to a 7-4 lead in game one after winning three straight points capped by a Craig Boller kill. Lewis held the slim lead until 14-13 when the Matadors scored seven of the next nine points to take the lead for good at 20-16. With Pedersen at the service line, Northridge rolled off another four-point run to go on top 24-18 before setting on the 30-22 final.

Northridge opened game two taking nine of the first 11 points and never looking back. After a Lewis timeout, the Flyers battled back to within 14-10 forcing a Matador timeout. But a 3-0 run out of the timeout put Northridge in front to stay at 17-10. Kills from Vance and Rhodes highlighted the rally.

Game three was similar as the Matadors raced out to a 10-4 lead only to see Lewis get back in striking distance at 15-8 following a Jared Dayton kill. But Northridge soon built its lead back to nine at 20-11 following a Vance kill and the Matadors cruised home 30-20.

Cal State plays match four of its season-long five-match homestand on Friday as the Matadors host Quincy in The Matadome at 7 p.m.

- GO MATADORS -

[swingaway]

CSUN lost their starting Libero to a broken leg yesterday in practice. Had surgery today.

[fingrbustr]

I'm assuming this is Ali'i? (he's been starting most as of late). Wow, that's a blow. He was starting to come on too...made some incredible digs against Patak last I saw. Carter should be a great fill-in though...great libero in juniors/HS.

[swingaway]

fingrbustr said:

I'm assuming this is Ali'i? (he's been starting most as of late). Wow, that's a blow. He was starting to come on too...made some incredible digs against Patak last I saw. Carter should be a great fill-in though...great libero in juniors/HS.

Yes, it was Alii. He had a short slump and had just started to return to his solid playing self. I agree Carter will do well, unfortunately he had a very rocky match last night. Gaudino replaced him in games 2 and 3. It's not the ultimate best use for an offensive power like Gaudino but with Vance and Kneubuhl playing so well, it's unlikely he will get much time at outside this season. Right now, I think he is a better libero than Carter and we will need solid play by one of them with Hawaii next week.

[Beachy]

I hate to hear of ANY injury but how does a libero break a leg? Was he turning and had to cut back? A junior club player broke his leg in an horrific play where he was going hard on a X-play and the set forced him to cut back and his leg broke. What happened to Allii?

[swingaway]

No such "Horrific" accident from what I hear. The team warms up playing a game called knockout. Came down from a short, sideways jump on another player, thought it was a slight sprain. Went to the training room for Ice and they decided it was worse. "Freak" accident.

[Rocky]

Freak accident is right. I heard the same . . . came down on someone else's foot. The ankle rolled, but the tibia was what broke. Funny thing is . . . a kid at the high school I coach at rolled his ankle playing defense (just stepped wierd to the ball) and broke his tibia. Alii needed surgery, the other kid is in a cast.

Very wierd that within the same week I hear about the same type of injury. I have never heard of this before. Except . . . someone wearing ankle braces and because it "protected" the ankle the leg was broke or the knee was injured. I know the kid in high school that just broke his leg did not wear ankle braces.

Swingaway - do you remember if Alii wears them? Just curious.

[swingaway]

"Swingaway - do you remember if Alii wears them? Just curious. "

I don't know but that's a great question. I know Dan was wearing one and it probably saved him 3 weeks recovery at UCLA.

Coach may be getting less strict (that will change if true). Vance has been wearing 1 and taping the other in the last 6-10 matches. Don't know what happens in practice.

[8sexual0healn8]

I am friends with Ali'i and i talked to him yesterday (3/7) and the reason he had to have surgery is because he broke his FIBULA not TIBIA and the part that broke wasn't in alignment with his ankle anymore. So they doctors had to go put it a plate to re-align the bone with the ankle and they put screws in the fibula.

[Rocky]

8sexual0healn8 said:

I am friends with Ali'i and i talked to him yesterday (3/7) and the reason he had to have surgery is because he broke his FIBULA not TIBIA and the part that broke wasn't in alignment with his ankle anymore. So they doctors had to go put it a plate to re-align the bone with the ankle and they put screws in the fibula.

Thanks for clarifying that it was the fibula and not the tibia. Wrong bone.

I hope he has a full and speedy recovery!