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UH vs. CSU Northridge

Cal State Northridge volleyball coach Jeff Campbell waited 2 hours, 14 minutes to exhale.

"That was big to win here," Campbell said following the Matadors’ 25-21, 17-25, 26-24, 25-23 victory over Hawaii on Friday night at the Stan Sheriff Center. "Any time we can come in here and win against great players and a great coaching staff, we’re grateful."

Northridge opposite John Baker pounded 19 kills and hit .484, and outside hitter Brandon Lebrock, who is optimistically 6 feet when he inhales, produced 17 innovative kills.

The Warriors, playing at home for the first time in a month, missed a chance to move into eighth place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The top eight teams qualify for the MPSF playoffs. They fell to 5-11 overall and 4-9 in the MPSF.

The Matadors are 8-6 and 6-6.

The Warriors were without outside hitter JP Marks, who missed the first match of his two-season UH career. Marks has been suffering from an upper-respiratory infection.

"We missed JP tonight," UH coach Charlie Wade said. "His serving is good. He leads the team in digging. And he can block. On a young team, he has the most hours logged playing for us."

Jace Olsen, who started in place of Marks, had five kills but committed nine errors and was aced five times.

Opposite Brook Sedore led the Warriors with 17 kills, hit .387 and blasted five aces. But he committed seven service errors, and his non-ace serves did not create any pressure on the Matadors.

"His serving wasn’t consistent," Wade said. "He was pressing, pressing and trying to swing too hard. He had some aces, but they seemed insignificant. We talk about creating service pressure and sustaining it. He was able to put it on. When he served it in, he was good. But he missed way too many."

Still, the Warriors were in position to claim the final two sets. It was 24-all in the third set before Olsen hit long and then Sedore hit into a double block.

The Matadors raced to a 7-0 lead in the fourth set, with Baker the server for six of the points.

"We struggled, for sure, in a lot of areas," Wade said.

But then the Warriors were able to sideout consistently, enabling them to chip away at the deficit.

The Warriors tied it at 23, sending Sedore behind the service line.

But Baker was able slam a kill on a D set from behind the 10-foot line.

On the next play, UH’s Siki Zarkovic hit a shot toward the Matadors’ left corner. But 6-foot-8 middle Jared Moore made a sliding dig. Then Baker slammed another D set for aloha ball.

"I tried to get low and into the open court where I thought (Zarkovic) was going to hit it," Moore said. "I tried to get low and in front of the ball, and it turned out to be a great dig."

Campbell said: "We have not been digging the ball very well. I think we’re in last place in digs per game. It was refreshing to get that dig at the end of the game."

Baker had been struggling attacking from the back row. But he had seven back-row kills in the fourth set.

"It’s been a long time coming," Baker said. "I’ve had a couple of rough games. I’ve tried to get in the same rhythm with every swing. It worked out."

Lebrock was productive on pipe sets to the back row and swings from the front left.

"To make up for my short height, I have to swing at the blockers as hard as I can," said Lebrock, who is capable of touching 11 feet off a vertical jump. "I focus mainly on my power. I’m going to get up there every single jump. If I don’t get a good jump, I have to focus on attacking the block as hard as I can."