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Sophomore Dainis Berzins triggered a .467 hitting percentage with seven kills on the night.

Men's Volleyball

Ramblers Swept By Matadors, 3-0

March 9, 2012

Box Score

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - The Matadors triggered a .452 hitting percentage to earn the sweep over the Ramblers tonight in California. Loyola picks up its tenth loss to move to 10-10 overall, falling by scores of 25-15, 25-18, and 25-20. Cal State Northridge improves to 8-10 on the season with the win.

Cal State Northridge jumped to a 5-3 lead in the first set after a block-kill combination. Consecutive kills from Cody Caldwell allowed the Ramblers to takeover with a 10-8 lead. CSUN answered with an 8-1 run and never looked back. The teams traded points to the end when Matador Matt Stork sandwiched a pair of kills around a triple block to close out the set, 25-18.

The teams continued to alternate points to open the second set. At the 12-13 mark, Stork joined fellow Matadors Danny Rodrick, and Jared Moore to tally four straight to command the lead. Loyola's Steve Thompson added kills late in the game to keep a steady pace for the Ramblers but the team could not overcome the deficit, falling 25-18.

Kills from Thompson and Berzins along with a pair of errors from Cal State Northridge gave the Ramblers a 5-2 jolt in the final set. The Matadors slowly worked back to close the gap, eventually tying the game at nine off of a kill from Drew Staker. Big plays from Joseph Smalzer, Berzins, Caldwell, and Eric Daliege kept the Ramblers in close action until Stork paced the way to regain the lead (19-17) for CSUN. Berzins launched a bullet to set the score at 20-23, but two errors from Smalzer closed out the victory for Cal State Northridge.

Berzins proved sturdy, hitting a .467 marker with seven kills in 15 attempts on the night. Caldwell and Bunting also added seven kills each for the spread offense. Peter Jasaitis gathered 16 kills on the backline, while Smalzer and Matt Mirick split duties at the setter position to collect 11 and 18 assists, respectively.

Next up, Loyola will return home to Chicago for contests against Division II contenders. The week will begin with a battle Thursday night against King College at 7:00 p.m. CST.

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