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No. 16 CSUN did it again thanks in part to outside attacker Kyle Hobus.
Hobus finished both with a match-high 19 kills on a .342 attack percentage and three aces as CSUN upset No. 3/5 UC Irvine 25-21, 25-21, 24-26, 25-18 on Friday in Northridge, California.
This was the second consecutive that Hobus had double-digit kills in an upset victory against a top-five nationally ranked team. Hobus had 11 kills and hit .346 to help CSUN on the road beat then-No. 3/3 Hawai’i last week.
Hobus closed out the upset against the Anteaters with a game-high six kills in the final. The outside attacker also had back-to-back kills to jumpstart an 8-4 run to end the match.
Opposite Jalen Phillips as part of that game-ending run delivered the match-winning kill and finished the opener of the home-and-home conference series with 14 kills.
Along with the offense performance, Hobus contributed six blocks and was one of three Matadors with five blocks. Middle attacker Nir Ethan led all players with seven blocks, while middle attacker Jano Tello added five blocks.
CSUN limited UC Irvine to no more than a .125 attack percentage in each of the four games and for the match out-hit the Anteaters .277 to. .117.
Outside attacker Hilir Henno in the loss had a team-high 13 kills and was the only Anteater with double-digit kills. Henno, though, was held to a season-low .024 attack percentage and had a streak snapped of five consecutive matches hitting at least .300.
UC Irvine with this loss drops out of first place and is now a match behind No. 1/1 Long Beach State in the Big West standings.