CSUN and Long Beach State were featured in a Big West battle on Friday night in Northridge, both looking to secure their first conference win of the season. After a long, vigorous fight that contained 41 tied scores and 14 lead changes, it was the Beach who left with a win in five sets.
This loss puts the Matadors at 12-7 overall and 0-3 in conference play. CSUN has not been able to beat Long Beach (15-4 overall, 1-2 conference) in a single match since 2021.
CSUN outside hitter Joao Avlia spoke on what takeaways he recieved from the game.
“I think, serve consistency,” Avila said. “They’re a damn good team and their middles can play really well. They really dictated the game, and I think service pressure is really important against these guys.”
The game quickly started with both teams going head to head, taking turns scoring points behind a loud home crowd.
During the first set, the score was tied 13 times, and the Beach was not able to lead until an attack error on CSUN setter Owen Douphner, which allowed Long Beach to take a 14-13 lead.
The remainder of the first set followed the same pattern, however, the Beach won the set 25-20.
The second set included more back and forth exchanges, but CSUN reached double digits first as they led 10-7. The Matadors were able to control the ball and stay ahead, tying up the match on an identical 25-20 win in set 2.
The sets became longer as the night went on – the third set had more lead changes and tie scores between the two programs. CSUN continued to be fueled by the electric energy and went on a huge run to put them up 19-12.
Long Beach caught up, but it wasn’t enough as the Matadors won the set 25-21 to put themselves on the verge of a win.
CSUN outside hitter Hank Kaufman talked about what gave his team an energy boost throughout the night.
“When we got our serves in, we pushed a few points. We really got our confidence going and the whole team felt like it was just pushing all behind us,” Kaufman said.
The storyline of a close game remained the same, but a four-point run put the Beach up 15-10. Long Beach opened the scoring and avoided getting sent home for the night after taking a 25-18 win.
Though both teams looked tired, neither left much room for error in the fifth set with the game on the line. The Beach rallied and were able to pull off the win, with the final set score being 15-11.
CSUN head coach Theo Edwards said he thought his team played incredibly well and did their best to try and win the game.
“We just had a ton of service errors that kind of put us over the edge. I thought they kicked it in gear in sets four and five, and I just thought they were much cleaner than us at that point in time,” Edwards said.
CSUN will have a rematch with Long Beach State today at 7 p.m. at the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Avila said the game was a tough battle, and the team will have another chance to prove themselves against this tough opponent.
“I think we’ve been working really hard, and this night was a really important night for us to keep it moving,” Avila said. “Even though we got the loss now, we got to get through it and [Saturday] we have another hard game against us at the pyramid.”
