NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – No. 12 CSUN out-lasted No. 8 UC Irvine, 3-2 (30-28, 18-25, 25-22, 21-25, 22-20) at the Matadome Friday.

The Anteaters out-hit CSUN .433 to .297, but could not hold off the Matadors late.

UCI goes to 14-10 on the year and 2-5 in the Big West, while CSUN wins its first league match (1-6) and is 11-12 on the year.

HEAD COACH DAVID KNIFFIN SAID
"We have to rally around our strengths. The offense was clicking tonight and our middles took charge in one of our best blocking nights."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Karl Apfelbach led the Anteaters with a season-high 22 kills and tied his season-high with six total blocks
>Patrick Sohacki was a force in the middle with a career-high 10 kills and seven total blocks
>Middle blocker Scott Stadick added a season-high 13 kills and five total blocks, while Alexandre Nsakanda had 13 kills
>The Matadors out-served UCI 9-2, but the Anteaters owned the net, 14-5
>Dimitar Kalchev had a team-best 22 kills for CSUN

TURNING POINTS
FIRST SET
>A kill by Alexandre Nsakanda and two Matador miscues gave UCI a 3-1 lead
>A dig that landed for a kill by David Parker put UCI in front 8-7
>A pair of kills by Dimitar Kalchev and an Anteater attack error gave CSUN the 13-10 advantage
>The Matadors would remain in control 23-20 until UCI would go on a 3-1 run with the help of back-to-back kills by Nsakanda and Apfelbach and block by Nsakanda and Patrick Sohacki, 24-24
>An Anteater attack sailed long and a kill by Maciej Ptaszynski gave CSUN the set, 30-28
>The Matadors hit .500 (16-4-24), while UCI hit .433 (18-5-30)

SECOND SET
>UCI would sneak ahead 14-11 on two kills by Apfelbach and a CSUN attack error
>A dump and block by Dante Chakravorti with some help from Scott Stadick moved the gap to 17-13
>Four straight points by UCI included a block by Apfelbach and Sohacki, 22-15
>UCI would win the set 25-18, hitting .619 (14-1-21)

THIRD SET
>Behind the tough serving of Ptaszynski, CSUN took a 5-2 lead
>UCI trailed 10-6 before exploding on a 7-0 run which included a kill from Sohacki, three Matador errors, two kills by Apfelbach and a block by Sohacki and Nsakanda putting the Anteaters in front, 13-10
>A 4-1 run from CSUN would knot the score at 14-14
>In a game of runs, UCI would score the next three, 17-13 only to watch CSUN score four of their own, 18-17
>A kill by Kalchev and a block got CSUN to 20-18
>Consecutive blocks by Stadick and Chakravorti tied the set at 20s
>CSUN would score the next two (22-20), but a Matador service error and a kill by Koubi out of the back deadlocked the set at 22-22
> Northridge would close out the set with the final three points, 25-22

FOURTH SET
>Kills by Stadick and Koubi gave UCI a 7-4 lead
>A Matador service error was followed by a kill by Koubi and a solo block by Stadick, forcing a CSUN timeout, 13-8
>A kill by Stadick, a CSUN attack error, a kill by Koubi and an ace by Apfelbach moved the margin to 17-10
>A 5-1 run by CSUN edged the Matadors within 22-20, but a solo block by Apfelbach and another block by Apfelbach and Stadick stopped the momentum and got UCI to set point, 24-20
>Following a Matador kill, Koubi ended the set with a kill, 25-21

FIFTH SET
>Back-to-back errors by UCI gave CSUN the 5-3 lead, but Apfelbach followed with two kills, 5-5
>The teams would continue to trade points until kills by Sohacki and Apfelbach gave UCI a slight 11-9 lead
>CSUN would tie it at 12-12
>A UCI service error and a kill by Kalchev made it match point for the Matadors, 14-13
>Stadick would put one down in the middle to keep the game going
>CSUN would use a kill by Rzepniewski and a UCI attack error to give the Matadors the set 22-20 and match

NOTES
>UCI is 3-1 when playing five games this season
>Dante Chakravorti totaled a season-high 61 set assists to go with four kills and eight digs
> Aaron Koubi added 11 kills, while libero David Parker had a team best nine digs
>Service errors hurt the Anteaters with 24 for the match  

UP NEXT
>The same two teams will tangle in Irvine tomorrow. First serve from the Bren Events Center is 7:00 p.m.