The No. 9 CSUN men’s volleyball team snapped out of a three-game losing streak with a great 3-0 win against No. 5 Hawai’i on Friday night, but the Matadors still find themselves in trouble.
Despite the win, the team is only 1-4 in conference play, with only five games left in the regular season.
The Matadors’ offense has struggled against ranked opponents this year, and it’s been at its low point since conference games started – which could be a bad sign for their chances in the Big West tournament.
After the team’s loss to UC Santa Barbara on March 28, CSUN coach Theo Edwards spoke about the team’s offensive struggles in recent games.
“ We’re in a little bit of a funk,” Edwards said. “Jalen looks uncharacteristic of himself right now. Our team’s trying to figure out our identity when he’s not playing well, and we need some of the other guys to step up and kill the balls.”
CSUN has received incredible production from opposite hitter Jalen Phillips, who has been amazing for most of this season. However, the team struggles when he hasn’t finished off-kill attempts. In five of CSUN’s seven losses, Phillips’ hitting percentage has fallen below .200, and in two of the last three games, he’s hit below .100.
However, Phillips looked more like himself in their most recent game and contributed his turnaround to his teammates.
“Sticking together [helped], just trusting that these guys are going to have my back no matter what,” Phillips said. “We’ve been pushing through it in practice, just working on the connection between me and [setter Donovan Constable].”
Phillips and Constable’s connection has been strong throughout the season but has taken a step back. Over the past few weeks, CSUN has fallen from first to fifth amongst all Big West teams in kills and assists.
The team’s offense gained momentum with the win against Hawai’i and kept a positive mindset going into the final five games.
“[Our mindset] is continued growth. We know as much as anybody that when you get to the Big West championship, you just want to play well. Tomorrow is another great opportunity to get better and we look forward to it,” Edwards said.
Phillips added that the locker room continues to have faith in one another despite the recent stretch of unfavorable results.
“The message has been to have each other’s backs and play together,” Phillips said. “It felt like we were getting a little distant, and we just need to push through it together.”
With every Big West program apart from UCSB being ranked inside the top 10, the Matadors must improve from their 3-5 record against ranked opponents.
The Matadors will have to buckle down and lock in on their final stretch of the season if they want to have any hope of climbing up the conference standings and putting themselves in a good position for the postseason tournament.
CSUN’s next game will be another contest versus the Rainbow Warriors on Saturday, April 5, at 6 p.m. at the Premier America Credit Union Arena. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
