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Kyle Houbs and Griffin Walters came through in the decisive game and delivered an upset win for CSUN.
The pin-hitters each had a game-high four kills and committed one combined attack error in the fifth game as CSUN defeated No. 6/7 Stanford 21-25, 26-24, 22-25, 25-18, 15-13 on Friday in Northridge, California.
This is the first win in five attempts this season that Matadors have defeated a top-10 nationally ranked team. The victory also comes days after CSUN (5-5, 0-0 Big West) suffered a home loss to NAIA powerhouse Vanguard.
Houbs led CSUN with a season-high 21 kills with nine of those kills coming in the final two games of the comeback win against Stanford (6-2, 0-0 MPSF).
The All-Big West outside attacker was one of three Matadors with double-digit kills. Walters added 17 kills on a .300 attack percentage, while Lorenzo Bertozzi had 12 kills and hit .308.
Bertozzi also contributed 13 digs in the non-conference win. CSUN libero Taylan Cook led all players defensively with 20 digs.
Despite the loss, Stanford out-hit CSUN .279 to .273 and had a .368 attack percentage with one attack error in the fifth game.
Outside attacker Will Rottman led Stanford with 21 kills – the third time this season that Rottman had more than 20 kills. Four Stanford players had double-digit kills with middle attacker Ethan Hill having 10 kills and one error on a match-best .600 attack percentage.
Hill also led all players with six blocks and helped Stanford out-block CSUN 10 to 6.
This is the fourth consecutive loss for Stanford at the Matadome. The Cardinal have not won a road match against the Matadors since 2016.