CSUN couldn’t find a rhythm on offense in its MPSF Tournament first-round match-up against No. 1 USC and saw its season come to an end as it fell in straight sets to the overpowering Trojan offense. Northridge, the tournament’s eighth seed, only hit .012 against USC. CSUN’s offensive leaders sophomore Brandon Lebrock and freshman Julius Hoefer only combined to tally 12 kills. “When you go into playoffs, you need your best player to be killing balls,” CSUN head coach Jeff… Read more

The No. 8 Matadors made it to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation playoffs, but won’t have an easy time trying to get by No. 1 USC in the first round Saturday night at the Galen Center. The Matadors (12-17, 9-6 MPSF) only clinched their playoff spot last Thursday, but the Trojans (21-4, 17-4) have the homecourt advantage in the opening round. “It’s a lot bigger,” said middle blocker Jared Moore about the Galen Center, USC’s home. “A lot of the… Read more

USC spoiled the Matadors’ Senior Night with a straight-set sweep, solidifying both teams spots in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament. With the win, the Trojans wrapped up the first seed in the tournament and will face the eighth seed: the Matadors. The first-round game will be played at USC Saturday. “We’re going to have to play harder heading into Saturday night,” CSUN sophomore Brandon Lebrock said. “We kind of took tonight off knowing that we’re already in the playoffs… Read more

With an MPSF playoff spot all but locked up but with the pesky Waves not wanting to go down without a fight in the fourth set Thursday night at the Matadome, the CSUN bench began to get antsy. Pepperdine point after Pepperdine point, the Matador reserves restlessly cringed on the sidelines – more at the feeling of bottled-in euphoria waiting to be released than at the fear of the Waves mounting a miraculous comeback. On the court, CSUN outside hitter… Read more

After dropping two of three games over the break, CSUN holds a slim lead for eighth place over UC San Diego with only two matches left in the regular season. Saturday the Matadors (11-15, 7-12 MPSF) dropped a five-set thriller at Stanford, nearly coming back from a two-set deficit but falling short in the fifth and decisive set, 19-17. “I think we realized that everyone is replaceable on this team,” CSUN freshman standout Julius Hoefer said. “(Opposite) John Baker came… Read more

Though the Matadors fought a valiant battle against Pacific the previous night to get the win in five sets, they couldn’t do the same at Stanford (18-6, 15-5 MPSF) as they fell 3-2 (19-25, 21-25, 25-22, 25-22, 19-17) at Maples Pavilion Saturday night. CSUN (11-16, 7-13) still retains the eighth seed in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and has little time left to move up in the ranks with only two games left in the season. Saturday’s loss marks the… Read more

The Matadors’ third winning streak of the season came to a violent halt Thursday night at BYU. Behind a dominant first set, the Cougars set the tone for the night and swept CSUN 25-10, 25-20, 25-20 at Smith Fieldhouse. CSUN (10-14, 6-11 MPSF) came into the night winner of two straight games and on a hot hitting streak that saw them hit a combined .341 during two wins against Hawai’i last weekend, but against the Cougars (19-5, 15-4), CSUN could… Read more

The Matadors hadn’t won back-to-back Mountain Pacific Sports Federation matches since late February before consecutive conference wins against Hawai’i last weekend put them in perfect position to earn a higher seed in the upcoming playoffs. Northridge (10-13, 6-10 MPSF) only has six games remaining in the regular season. Four of them are on the road, beginning two at Brigham Young (18-5, 14-4). The first game will be played tonight. The rematch will be Friday night. The No. 12 Matadors have… Read more