Upsetting the Matadors

Wednesday, January 11

Riverside, Calif.

7:00 PM

California Baptist University

2-2, 1-0MPSF

Cal State Northridge

5-1, 0-1MPSF

Cal State Northridge

California Baptist

Photo by: Jacob Gonzalez

1/11/2017 10:17:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Sammi Wellman, Director of Sports Information

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Last time Cal State Northridge came to town, California Baptist University upset the then-ranked No. 11 Matadors in five sets. It was déjà vu all over as the Lancers once again upset No. 13 CSUN in five sets (25-23, 13-25, 17-25, 25-16, 15-9).

"I'm just really proud of the team," said Coach Derek Schmitt. "We played a really solid first set and then they really dominated us in the second and third, but we responded great. It wasn't easy. It was a five-set match last year, but it was closer. This is our third one of the season so we're used to it. It was great to be at home and have our fans cheering us on."

The Lancers improve to 2-2 on the year and open Mountain Pacific Sports Federation action 1-0. CSUN drops to 5-1 with its first loss of the year and starts conference in a 0-1 hole.

"It feels great," said Luis Palos. "We were prepared for this and were excited."

Four Lancers finished in double-digit kills, with Rohit Paul, Palos and Kevin Vaz all posting 11 kills in the win. Enrique de Diego Garcia chipped in another 10 kills, while Cody Jackson finished with 40 assists.

When CBU found itself in a 2-1 hole heading into the fourth set, it knew it was do or die. The Lancers exploded in pretty much the biggest way possible, hitting at a near-perfect .812 clip (13-0-16).

"That's when our backs are against the wall and we needed to fight," said Palos. "We talked in the huddles about this being our house and we wanted to defend it and not to let our fans down."

CSUN may have scored the first point of the set, but the Lancers quickly set the tone with five-straight points in response. Logan Czyzewski got the run going with a kill, before two attack errors from the Matadors and two kills from Palos put CBU in front 5-1 and forced a CSUN timeout.

"We jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the fourth, Luis did a really good job serving to keep us in that rotation," said Schmitt. "We really built off that and they just never could really get back in that set."

The Matadors tried to climb back into it, pulling within 12-8, but the Lancers weren't having it. Five consecutive CBU points, including kills from Garcia and Paul, an ace from Palos and a combo stuff from Paul and Garcia, all but put the set out of reach. Palos sealed the deal with a powerful kill from the outside to force a fifth and deciding set.

Feeling juiced, the Lancers kept their offensive prowess up and didn't commit a single error in the fifth to hit at a .667 mark.

It started out back-and-forth as both teams were determined to get a run to take control of the set. After ties at 3, 4 and 5, it was CBU who jumped out in front.

Even at 5-5, Vaz smacked down a kill into the center of the Matador defense and Palos followed with a kill of his own to force a Matador timeout. The regrouping didn't work, however, as another kill from Vaz and a solo block from Jackson put the Lancers in front 9-5.

CSUN tried to contain CBU, but couldn't get the home team to give up a run. A Matador service error gave the Lancers match point, 14-9, and an attack error completed CBU's upset victory.

"We knew we needed to get out to a good start in the fifth set and keep our momentum going," said Schmitt. "To go from getting dominated in the second and third set to respond and control the game by hitting near perfect is pretty impressive."

The Lancers have no rest as they host No. 3-ranked Long Beach State on Friday at 7:00 p.m.