Northridge over Pacific

[sponge13]

CSUN def. Pacific 30-28, 30-23, 30-25

Nielsen 10 kills, followed by Waite's nine kills (.538) and team-high five blocks. CSUN wins despite hitting .219 as a team (Pacific .178). Sean Rodgers has eight kills for Pacific (.615).

[Rocky]

From CSUN's website (note that all five seniors played and Billy Allen played as an outside hitter). Nice job CSUN!

Seniors Go Out In Style As #5 Cal State Northridge Sweeps Pacific

Fittingly, senior Scott Arneson led No. 5 Cal State Northridge to a 3-0 (30-28, 30-23, 30-25) sweep of visiting Pacific with a match-high 13 kills on "Senior Night" in The Matadome on Saturday night. With the win, the Matadors remain in fourth place in the MPSF with an overall record of 18-7 and a league mark of 12-6. Pacific drops to 7-18 overall and 3-15 in the MPSF.

All five Matador seniors, which includes two setters, started for CSUN in the first two games. Setter Billy Allen started as an outside hitter while Ty Tramblie remained as the starting setter for the Matadors.

CSUN jumped out to a 9-6 lead in the first game after a kill by junior Nils Nielsen. But Pacific scored four unanswered points to claim a 10-9 lead after back-to-back hitting errors by CSUN. The first game was a seesaw affair that featured 14 ties and six lead changes. Neither team could maintain more than a three-point lead until Nielsen and junior Brian Waite combined for a block of Brian Zodrow to give the Matadors a 28-24 lead. Nils Dauburs served an ace to cut the lead to 29-28 for Pacific, but Arneson and Waite teamed up to block Mauricio Brizuela on game point (30-28).

The Tigers came out quickly in the second game, jumping out to an 11-7 lead after a hitting error by Arneson. The Matadors still trailed by four points at 16-12 when they began their comeback. CSUN regained the lead at 18-17 with a 6-1 run that ended with a kill by Nielsen. A hitting error by Pacific's Mitch Hazelett gave CSUN a 26-21 lead. Senior middle blocker Stan Douglas put the finishing touch on game two with a kill from a Tramblie assist to give CSUN a 30-23 victory.

The Matadors scored the first five points of the third set, thanks to four hitting errors by the Tigers. Back-to-back errors by Northridge gave Pacific hope, trailing 9-8. But CSUN would build a seven point lead seven different times, the last at 25-18 on another kill by Nielsen. Pacific rallied and closed the gap to just two points at 26-24 after a service error by Nielsen. But Northridge would score four of the next five points to win the match 3-0 and the third game 30-25. Fittingly, Tramblie, another senior, had the final say when he recorded a solo block of Bryson Metz on match point.

Nielsen was the only other player to end the match with double figures in kills with 10 against the Tigers. Waite had another solid outing with nine kills, a match-high five total blocks (two solo), four digs and a match-high two aces.

Senior libero Doug English chipped in a team-best nine digs while Tramblie had a match-high 40 assists and added three total blocks (one solo) and seven digs for the Matadors. Douglas ended his regular-season home career with four kills and three total blocks against Pacific.

Zodrow, a junior opposite hitter and senior middle blocker Sean Rodgers each registered a team-high eight kills to lead Pacific. Freshman middle blocker Dan Hammer recorded a match-high tying five total blocks (two solo) for the Tigers. Hazelett, a freshman setter, ended the night with a team-high 22 assists while junior libero Mike Gawlik had a match-high 10 digs.

The Matadors return to action on April 8, 2004, when they travel to face second-ranked Long Beach State. The match is slated for a 7:30 p.m. start in The Pyramid.

-- GO MATADORS --