#2 UCI Upsets #1 CSUN

No. 2 UC Irvine Takes Down No. 1 Cal State Northridge, 3-2
Battle of top two teams does not disappoint
March 13, 2009


Northridge, Calif. – The battle of the top two teams in the country did not disappoint as No. 2 UC Irvine upset No. 1 Cal State Northridge, 3-2 (27-30, 30-28, 30-23, 26-30, 15-10) at the Matadome Friday.

The Anteaters improve to 17-3 overall and 12-2 in the MPSF, while Northridge goes to 16-3 overall and 12-3 in league action. UCI won its fifth in a row and snaps the Matadors 10-match winning streak. The Anteaters are 4-0 in five set matches this year.

Four Anteater players recorded kills in double-figures led by sophomore outside hitter Jordan DuFault with 17. He also recorded eight digs and six blocks. Freshman Carson Clark totaled 14 kills, seven digs and seven blocks. Middle hitter Kevin Wynne had a match-high nine blocks, which ties his season-high to go with 12 kills, hitting .500 (12-4-16) for the match. Sophomore Cory Yoder came off the bench to put away 10 kills. Setter Ryan Ammerman, the reigning National Player of the Week, had six kills, 52 set assists and two aces, while libero Nick Spittle had eight digs.

UCI out-blocked Northridge 18 to 12. UCI hit .287 (65-26-136) while the Matadors hit .305 (68-25-141) on the night.

Cal State Northridge’s Eric Vance had a match-high 20 kills and nine digs. Tanner Nau had 17 kills and four aces, while Jacek Ratajczak added 13 kills, hit .522 and had a team-best six blocks. Ali’i Keohohou had a match-high 14 digs and Matt Stork recorded 63 set assists.


UCI jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the first set behind the tough serving of Carson Clark and without taking a single swing then continued to lead 9-4 on just four attempts. UCI was cruising to a 20-15 advantage until Northridge rallied on a 6-1 run to tie the score at 21-21 on a kill by Tanner Nua. With the score tied 23-23, Nau fired back-to-back service aces to give the Matadors the 25-23 cushion. The Anteaters would close to 28-27 on a Northridge serving error before the Matadors won the set on a kill by Jacek Ratajczak and a block, 30-27.


The Matadors held the 18-14 advantage in the second set before Ryan Ammerman stepped to the service line and rallied UCI to five straight points which included an ace and kills by Clark and Kevin Wynne. Northridge closed the gap to 29-28 on an Eric Vance kill, but a Matador service error gave UCI the set, 30-28.



Following a 17-17 tie, UCI scored three unanswered on two Matador miscues and a service ace by Austin D’Amore to take a 20-17 lead in the third set. The Anteaters would take a 26-20 lead on kills by Clark and Wynne, an ace by Jordan DuFault and a Northridge attack error. UCI would go on to win the set 30-23 behind Nick Spittle’s solid defense. The Matadors hit .062 (11-9-32) in the set as UCI recorded six blocks.


In the fourth set, UCI led 14-12 before Northridge rallied to take a 17-15 lead. Northridge scored on an Anteater attack attempt that sailed just wide and a kill by Vance off the block to go ahead 22-20. CSUN would extend the lead to 27-23 on a Vance solo block and then win the set 30-26 to force a fifth set. Cal State Northridge hit .520 (15-2-25).


The Anteaters started strong with a 5-1 lead and built a 10-5 advantage on their way to a 15-10 victory. UCI did not commit a hitting error in the final set, hitting .562 (9-0-16).


UCI will take next week off for finals and return to action hosting Hawaii April 26 and 27 in the Bren Center.