NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – The University of California, Merced men's volleyball team was swept by No. 17 CSUN on Friday night inside Premier Credit Union Arena.

The Bobcats (3-7) went toe-to-toe with the nationally-ranked Matadors through the halfway points of the sets one and two before CSUN pulled away.

Mason Stokes led the Bobcats with eight kills and four digs.

Kaleb Cole added seven kills and two digs. Jozef Lingenfelter finished with six kills, four digs, and a solo block.

Toby Miller had 24 assists, six digs, and four kills.

Other notables include four kills without an error and a service ace from Colin Ryan and a service ace from Max Niederberger.

Back-to-back kills from Cole and Miller opened up the match and the Bobcats held the lead until CSUN tied it up at 10-10. The Bobcats lead was as many as three in the early goings, including at 9-6. Stokes put UC Merced back in front with a kill, 11-10, but it was the Bobcats last lead of the set. CSUN followed with four straight points. A little later, Lingenfelter capped a Bobcats 6-3 spurt with a solo block to pull even 17-17. However, CSUN followed with an 8-0 set ending run finished off by a service ace to win 25-17.

UC Merced erased an early 3-0 deficit in the second set with three kills from Stokes that tied the game 5-5. Overall, his three kills were a part of an 8-3 Bobcats run that had the Bobcats on top 8-6. Lingenfelter had back-to-back kills in the burst. UC Merced also led by two points at 12-10, but the Matadors flipped the score with four unanswered points to have a 14-12 advantage. The 4-0 spurt gave CSUN the momentum and in it ultimately turned into a 15-6 Matador set-ending run to go up 2-0 in the match.

CSUN slowly started to create separation in the third set after a couple early ties. CSUN owned a three-point lead at 10-7 and doubled their lead a little later at 15-9 behind a red-hot offense. The Matadors would go on to hit .667 (13/1/18) in the frame to finish off the sweep, leading by double digits at the 22-12 mark on the way to the 25-15 win.

CSUN hit .390 or better in all three sets, finishing with a .459 mark overall.

Up next, UC Merced will get back to MPSF action at Menlo College on Friday, February 27. First serve from Haynes-Prim Pavilion in Atherton, Calif., is scheduled for 6:00pm.