USC
Cal State Northridge
USC Men's Volleyball Falls To Cal State Northridge
April 24, 2010 | Men's Volleyball
April 24, 2010
Jacek Ratajczak had 19 kills and 9 blocks to lead No. 3-ranked Cal State Northridge to a 30-17, 31-33, 33-31, 30-26 win over No. 6 USC in a quarterfinal match in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament at Northridge on Saturday (April 24).
It was the Matadors' 17th consecutive victory over USC dating to 2004.
USC finishes its season with a 16-11 overall mark. CSUN improves to 22-8 and now faces No. 2 BYU in an MPSF tourney semifinal match on Thursday (April 29).
The Trojans hit .112 in the match to CSUN's .240. The Matadors had more blocks (19.0 to 11.0) and aces (9 to 7), but USC outdug CSUN, 53 to 49.
Murphy Troy had a match-best 23 kills and added 10 digs for USC, while Tony Ciarelli had 14 kills and Tyler Stevens had 8 kills and 7 digs while starting. Maddison McKibbin had 15 digs.
Ratajczak hit .500. Teammate Theo Edwards added 11 kills and Mike Gaudino had 10 kills and 12 digs. Ali'I Keohohou had 13 digs.
USC fell behind quickly in the first set at 9-6 and the Matadors easily pulled away while hitting .286, getting 9 blocks and serving 4 aces to USC's negative hitting percentage, 2 blocks and lack of an ace.
The second set see-sawed until the Trojans gained a 25-22 lead only to see CSUN switch the momentum and gain a 29-27 edge. But a Ciarelli kill followed by a Troy ace tied the set and then at 31-31 a CSUN serving error and a Troy kill closed out the set. The Trojans hit just .171 to CSUN's .282 in the set and USC served 5 aces.
USC used a 5-point run to jump out to an 11-4 lead in the third set, but CSUN pulled within 13-10 on 4-point run and then used another 4-0 run to go up 22-18 to apparently gain control. But then USC went 5-0 to tie it at 28-28 and the set stayed tight until a Ratajczak kill and a Trojan hitting error gave CSUN the set. USC hit just .159 in the set to CSUN's .244.
In the fourth set, USC started out with a 7-4 lead, but the Matadors tied it at 10-10 and then went up 15-12 with the help of a 5-0 run. The Trojans responded to tie it at 17-17, but then CSUN got hot and built a 22-18 lead, and the Matadors were able to hold on for the victory. Both teams didn't hit well in the set, with CSUN at .167 and USC at .132, but the Matadors had 4 blocks and 3 aces.
