The no. 17 ranked CSUN Matadors took on the UC Merced Bobcats and earned themselves a victory in sweeping fashion on Friday night at the Premier America Credit Union after a quick three sets.
While both teams play better at home, the Matadors (9-4) had the upper hand. This matchup was the seventh in history of two teams, with the previous six being won by CSUN on their home court.
Four out of the five UC Merced (3-5) losses have now come down to them being swept. CSUN middle blocker Shane Nhem said the team came into the match hoping to add to this statistic.
“We were hoping to not drop a set, I mean, that’s every game,” Nhem said. “We hope to not drop any sets. Even if it’s the number one team in the nation, we want to beat every team by three.”
UC Merced fired the ball early and scored the first few points, which kept CSUN on their toes, not allowing them to tie the match until they reached 10-10.
Neither team could hold a comfortable lead as both kept the score within three points until the Matadors went on an eight-point run to close out the first set, 25-17.
CSUN continued their scoring streak in the second set, but UC Merced matched their quick tempo and tied the match four times. The Matadors went on to run up the score again, finishing the set 25-18.
Head coach Theo Edwards spoke about his team playing a consistent match even when the Bobcats were applying pressure.
“I thought that the service pressure was really good, but really, when Merced made some runs against us, I thought we dealt with it well from a reception perspective,” Edwards said. “So keeping us in system, allowing our offense to kind of continue to build.”
The third set was crucial as it was CSUN’s chance to record back-to-back sweeps for the second time and UC Merced had a match on the line.
The Matadors saw their biggest lead of the night come alive at 10 points and soared to another win after shutting down the third set 25-15.
CSUN outside hitter Jordan Lucas praised his coaching staff, along with his teammates on and off the court, for being locked into the match.
“We always expect to sweep teams or that’s kind of the goal right – to get in and out of here as soon as possible,” Lucas said. “When we do that and we’re succeeding in that, you know, every set was [won] by seven or eight points.”
The Matadors will close out a three-match homestand and aim for their third sweep in a row against Cal Lutheran next Friday, Feb. 27, at 6 p.m.
