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The playoff run for a Cal State Northridge player is over at a beach volleyball world championship match.
Alex Jones and Kyle Stevenson lost to Norway’s Lars Fredrik Tvinde and Hendrik Nikolai Mol 21-15, 21-15 in the first round of the FIVB Beach Volleyball U23 World Championships on Friday in Poland.
Jones and Stevens, the only U.S. men’s pair competing at the tournament, qualified for one of the final spots in the single-elimination knock-out round after finishing in fourth place in its six-team pool. The Cal State Northridge tandem went 2-3 in pool play, including winning its final pool play match against Canada to clinch a spot in the knock-out round.
This is the second consecutive year Jones and Stevens competed at the World Championships. The pair last season went 1-2 in the Pool Play Round.
Stevenson last season finished among the Cal State Northridge leaders with a 1.33 digs per game average. The outside attacker also added a 1.54 kills per game average as the Matadors ended the regular season in ninth place in the MPSF.
Jones was a member of Cal State Northridge for the 2011 season before transferring to Los Angeles Pierce College. In addition, the setter returned to Cal State Northridge to play for the team in the 2013 season.