USC
*Cal State Northridge
Cal State Northridge Men's Volleyball Sweeps USC
April 08, 2006 | Men's Volleyball
April 8, 2006
James Lischer knocked down a match-high 12 kills as fourth-ranked Cal State Northridge swept 10th-ranked USC, 30-24, 30-22, 35-33 in an MPSF men's volleyball match on Friday (April 7) at The Matadome.
With the victory, the Matadors won their season-high seventh straight match and improved to 18-8 overall and 13-7 in the MPSF. The loss dropped the Trojans to 11-17 overall and 7-14 in conference play.
In leading Northridge to its 10th win in its last 11 matches, Lischer, Dan Rhodes and Brian Waite all reached double figures in kills as Rhodes and Waite added 11 kills apiece. Rhodes also tacked on three aces, four digs and a match-high five blocks. The Matador middles (Lischer and Waite) combined to hit .625 in the win. Matador setter Travis Bluemling also had a nice all-around match with 38 assists, three aces, seven digs and four blocks as Northridge hit .341 (45-15-88) as a team.
For USC, Joao Grangeiro recorded a team-high nine kills, while C.J. Schellenberg and Juan Figueroa each chipped in eight kills. Grangeiro also contributed three aces, seven digs and three blocks while Chris Jones posted four kills and tied Rhodes for the match-high in blocks with five (two solo).
In game one, the Matadors raced out to a 5-0 lead with Bluemling at the service line and never looked back. The Trojans battled back to cut the Northridge lead to 8-7 on a Matt Mosko kill but USC would get no closer in the first frame. Northridge scored six of the next seven points to build the lead back to 14-8 after Lischer and Bluemling teamed up to block Grangeiro. From that point on, the Northridge lead was never in doubt and the Matadors claimed game one 30-24.
The Trojans held the lead for much of the early portion of game two before the Matadors finally broke through on a Lischer kill to take a slim 12-11 lead. Northridge then turned in a 6-1 run to take an 18-12 lead and forcing a USC timeout. The Matadors then ran off a 6-4 run to open up a 24-16 cushion and cruised home 30-22 in game two.
Game three was the best of the match as the two teams traded the lead until Grangeiro and Jones blocked a Waite attack giving USC a 16-15 lead. The Trojans then built the lead to 21-17 after a pair of Grangeiro aces, forcing a Matador timeout. USC eventually built the lead to 27-21 and the match appeared to be heading to a game four. Northridge answered by scoring seven of the next eight points to knot the score at 28-28 on a Rhodes kill. Then Schellenberg hit out giving Northridge a match point at 29-28. But Bluemling would send an attempt long and the score was tied again at 29-29. With the score tied 30-30, Northridge got the mini-break when Matt Anderson hit out, setting up the match point and two others before Bluemling and Matt Bellante teamed up to block Grangeiro at 34-33 giving the Matadors the 3-0 win.
