It was an early start for the CSUN men’s volleyball team.

The 2007-2008 Matadors got its first taste of competition on Nov. 9-10 as they went up to Provo, Utah for the BYU Tournament.

CSUN fared quite well, rebounding from an opening loss to the host Cougars to defeat Utah Valley State College, then taking both matches it played against the Cougars the next day.

“We did very well, but we have to keep reminding ourselves that it’s very early,” head coach Jeff Campbell said.

The Matador’s opening loss to BYU came in three games by scores of 30-22, 30-20 and 30-26. CSUN did get good performances from freshman middle blocker Cody Loe, who had 11 kills and from junior outside hitter Eric Vance, who had nine kills.

CSUN bounced back to defeat Utah Valley State in three games later that day. On Saturday, the Matadors played two matches against the Cougars and came away with two wins. In the second match, sophomore middle blocker Kevin McKniff had 16 kills, senior outside hitter Isaac Kneubuhl had four service aces and Loe and Vance had 11 kills each. Vance along with sophomore libero Andy Pompei had nine digs apiece. Loe, Vance and senior setter Travis Bluemling were named to the all tournament team.

“It was a good barometer to see where we’re at for the time being, but we have a lot of work to do,” Campbell said.

CSUN will make a trip to UCLA for the Bruins’ fall tournament this weekend. First up for CSUN will be UC Santa Barbara on Friday at 4 p.m. CSUN will then end with two matches on Saturday, starting with Long Beach State at 10 a.m. followed by an afternoon match with the host Bruins at 3 p.m.