MARCH 18, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: RUDY YOVICH, SID
260-481-6646

#4 Cal State Northridge downs #8 IPFW

Northridge, CA-On Wednesday night, the Matadors of Cal State Northridge overcame a first set loss to beat IPFW 3-1 in men’s volleyball action.

IPFW took the first game 30-28, but Northridge stormed back to take the final three by the scores of 30-16, 30-24, and 30-17.

Cal State’s Brian Waite established a new career-high with 18 kills, while hitting a match-high .640 (18-2-25). Waite also blocked a match-high 10 balls in the match. Nils Nielsen added 14 kills and Cary Hanson chipped in 13. CSUN also got eight kills and three blocks from James Lischer. Setter Ty Tramblie recorded 49 assists and Doug English had a match-high 10 digs.

For IPFW, Matt Zbyszewski knocked down a match-high 21 kills, while Hitting .233. No other ‘Don had more than seven kills on the night. Mike Daiga recorded seven kills and seven blocks for IPFW, which hit .176 (50-29-119) as a team.

The Mastodons took game one with solid hitting as they out-hit Northridge .419 to .324 to take a 30-28 decision. Game two was all Northridge as the Matadors jumped out to 7-3 lead and never looked back. CSUN led by as many as 12 points (24-12) and ultimately took the game 30-16 to even the match at a game apiece. Game three began the same way as game one as the two teams battled to a 23-23 tie. But in this game, with Scott Arneson serving, CSUN rattled off six straight points to put the Matadors on the brink of the win. A kill from Diaga staved off one game point, but Zbyszewski then hit out giving CSUN a 2-1 lead. In the decisive game four, Northridge took out any suspense by storming to a 20-9 lead and coasting to the 30-17 victory.

IPFW, who is now 10-4, will compete in the Long Beach State “Beach Bash” this weekend. The Mastodons will have #12 UC-Irvine on Friday, and #2 Long Beach State on Saturday.

~Dons~