Hughes Paces Northridge’s Sweep of Irvine

NORTHRIDGE —  Freshman Jason Hughes had 19 kills and junior Peter Piexoto added 10 as Cal State Northridge defeated UC Irvine, 15-8, 15-4, 15-6, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men’s volleyball match Wednesday night.

The victory was the fourth in a row for Northridge (6-3, 2-1 in conference), which received nine kills apiece from Oliver Heitman and Collin Smith.

The Matadors, runners-up in last year’s NCAA championships, had a .385 hitting percentage, including a .461 mark in game three.

Hughes hit .533 and Heitman hit .529 for Northridge.

Gary Reznick had 37 assists for the Matadors and tied Piexoto for a match-high honors with six digs.

Heitman, Hughes, Piexoto and Craig Hewitt each had three blocks for Northridge, which improved its series record to 15-2 against the Anteaters.

Evan Alexander had 10 kills for UC Irvine (1-9, 1-8), which hit .126 overall and .000 in the second and third games.