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CSUN Men’s Volleyball Finding Early Success, Eyes Ranked Opponents

Gabriel Duarte, Sports Editor

January 22, 2025

No. 18 Jalen Phillips springs on the court for his serve against Purdue fort Wayne on Jan. 17 at Premier America Credit Union Arena in Northridge, Calif. Phillips achieved 19 kills for the Matadors, helping the undefeated team claim another game.

The CSUN men’s volleyball program season is already underway after starting their season during the winter break. The Matadors are off to their best start since 2018 and are looking to go 6-0 for the first time since 2016.

CSUN kicked off the season at the UC Santa Barbara Asics Invitational from Jan. 9 to 11. They found immense success in their first multi-team event of the season, but the Matadors didn’t face a Division 1 opponent during the MTE.

From left, Matadors Lorenzo Bertozzi (No. 2), Joao Favarim (No. 20) and Jalen Phillips (No.18) attempt to block Purdue Fort Wayne’s JP Candrian spike over the net on Jan. 17 at Premier America Credit Union Arena in Northridge, Calif. (Claire Geriak)

During their opening weekend, the Matadors took down Tusculum, Missouri S&T and Menlo, all non-Division 1 programs. CSUN opened the season with back-to-back sweeps and ended the weekend dropping only one set across their three matches.

On an interesting note, it was the first time in school history that the Matadors played against Tusculum and Missouri S&T in a men’s volleyball match.

For their efforts, CSUN saw two players earn three of the four Big West weekly awards. Setter Donovan Constable earned Setter of the Week after averaging 11.20 assists per set during the tournament. Constable tacked on 13 digs, 12 kills and 10 blocks as he did a bit of everything for the Matadors.

One of the newcomers to this year’s squad, CSUN middle blocker Stilian Delibosov, took home Freshman of the Week as well as Defensive Player of the Week. Delibosov tied a school record with 11 blocks in the win over Missouri S&T. The freshman from Bulgaria had 19 blocks and 23 kills across the three matches.

The Matadors’ home opener was part of the Under Armour Challenge, a MTE hosted by CSUN from Jan. 17 to 18 featuring Lindenwood, UC San Diego and Purdue Fort Wayne. Head coach Theo Edwards led the Matadors to another successful weekend, with the team picking up a pair of wins to push their record to 5-0.

Outside hitter Lorenzo Bertozzi lunges for the ball during the match against Purdue University Fort Wayne on Jan. 17 at Premier America Credit Union Arena in Northridge, Calif. (Claire Geriak)

Once again, CSUN blew past their competition, only losing one set between the two matches they played. The Matadors defeated PFW in straight sets to win their home opener on Jan. 17. One day later, CSUN took down Lindenwood in four sets to improve to 5-0 for the first time since 2018.

CSUN once again saw a couple of Big West weekly honors awarded to the team. Constable took home Setter of the Week for the second week in a row and CSUN’s Jalen Phillips was named as the Offensive Player of the Week.

Although it’s very early in the season, Phillips has had an All-American-esque start to the season. Phillips had 47 combined kills during the UCSB Asics Invitational and only did better the following weekend during the Matadors’ home opener. He’s combined for 93 kills through five games and is averaging 5.47 kills per set.

The Matadors have a big week coming up as they continue their homestead against two nationally ranked programs. CSUN will see No. 6 USC and No. 3 UCLA travel to the Premier America Credit Union Arena.

CSUN hosts USC on Wednesday, Jan. 22 and a few days later will host the defending national champions in UCLA on Friday, Jan. 24.