Matadors are traditional Spanish-style bullfighters.

But tonight, the bull was too powerful to fend off.

No. 1 UCLA men’s volleyball (11-0, 3-0 MPSF) defeated No. 17 Cal State Northridge (7-4) in straight sets on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion. Redshirt junior opposite David Decker led the Bruins with 11 kills on an efficient .625 hitting percentage, including a perfect 5-for-5 on kill attempts in the first set – courtesy of four assists from senior setter Andrew Rowan.

Rowan’s offensive facilitation leads the nation with 11.94 assists per set – almost one whole assist more than second place – guiding the Bruins to the country’s most efficient hitting percentage.

The early Decker-to-Rowan connection helped propel the Bruins to a 25-18 victory in the opening frame – their largest margin of victory across the three sets.

“Rowan and I were trying to take a little heat off our All-American outside (senior outside hitter Zach Rama) and give him some room,” Decker said. “He was trying to get me going early.”

Decker’s performance against the Matadors marked his most efficient of the year and his second consecutive double-digit kill performance, having notched 11 on Feb. 7 against Vanguard.

The Winston-Salem, N.C., local has made a strong recovery after struggling in the rematch of last year’s national championship against No. 2 Long Beach State on Feb. 6. He recorded just five kills in that match despite playing five sets and accumulated more errors than he did successful swings.

Decker and Rowan taking the offensive haul gave 2025 AVCA Second Team All-American Rama plenty of room to operate. The Phoenix local opened the second set with a kill of his own, finishing the match with four total alongside four digs.

After Rama’s opening kill, the Bruins would not lead by more than three points in the set until the 23-19 mark. CSUN opposite Jalen Phillips led the Matador offense with four kills in the second set, illustrating why he earned First Team All-Big West honors in 2025 and was the first Matador named an AVCA First Team All-American since 2010.

After capitalizing on a few late-set errors by CSUN, a kill by sophomore outside hitter Sean Kelly would seal a 25-20 second-set victory for the Bruins.

While the second set was a back-and-forth battle between the two squads, the third was an uphill climb for UCLA.

The Bruins faced their largest deficit of the match early in the third set, trailing 8-3. Phillips continued to lead the CSUN attack and was complemented by outside hitter Jordan Lucas, who transferred to CSUN after two seasons at Grand Canyon. Lucas finished the match with eight total kills on a .167 clip.

Between the Bruins’ attacking and service errors, the Matadors were able to build their advantage in the third set.

“We took a mental reset in the beginning part of that set,” said senior middle blocker Cameron Thorne. “This team doesn’t really feel pressure. We know we’re going to fix our mistakes in the next play, so we just go into the next ball having that goldfish mindset.”

The Bruins tightened up after the early deficit. Decker and junior middle blocker Micah Wong Diallo each added four kills in the set, with one of Diallo’s sealing the victory.

“Coming off a couple of matches where he didn’t play, I’m happy to see him get back on track,” said coach John Hawks.

The Bruins are off to an 11-0 start for the first time since 1998, when they won their third NCAA title in four years.

Looking ahead, their next matchup will be a rematch against the Beach on Feb. 20 at Pauley Pavilion.

“The record is just a number,” Hawks said. “The next match is always the most important match.”