Matadors Pick Up Two Wins in Thursday Tri-Dual

Thursday, March 8

Northridge, Calif.

11:00 a.m.

California State University at Northridge

Concordia-Irvine

Photo by: Braden Villanueva

Matadors Pick Up Two Wins in Thursday Tri-Dual

3/8/2018 7:40:00 PM | Beach Volleyball

Concordia-Irvine-CSUN Box Score // Cal State LA-CSUN Box Score

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - The CSUN beach volleyball team improved to 4-1 with a pair of victories Thursday in a tri-dual against Concordia-Irvine and Cal State Los Angeles at the Matador Beach Volleyball Facility.

The Matadors opened the day with a 4-1 win over Concordia and concluded the afternoon with a 5-0 sweep over Cal State LA.

"I'm really proud of the girls and the way they took care of business today by staying consistent across the board," said head coach Noelle Rooke. "We were trying to work on some things where we might have some weaknesses and turn those into strengths. I thought the execution by the team was very good today."

CSUN won at No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 5 with only the duo of Erin Indermill and Daniella Molinari coming out on the short end against Concordia. Kristey Markle and Nickeisha Williams picked up the Matadors' first win of the day at No. 2, sweeping Tristan Self and Vanessa Bernzen 21-19, 22-20.

With the Eagles' win at No. 4 over Indermill and Molinari, the dual was even as the second flight of matches got underway. Lauren McMurray and Autumn Russell made it 2-1 CSUN with a 21-7, 21-11 win at No. 3 before Nicolette Pinkney and Lauren Conati clinched the win with a 21-9, 21-10 win at No. 5.

The final pair to go final was at No. 1 where Katie Sato and Aeryn Owens swept Kersti Whitney and Avery Keathley by the score of 21-9, 21-14.

After Concordia defeated Cal State LA 4-1 in the middle dual, the Matadors went undefeated against the Golden Eagles to conclude the day.

Shawnee De Oliveira and Cassidy Rosso won the No. 6 match 21-15, 21-15 before Indermill and Molinari got back in the win column with a 21-10, 21-13 win over Jeshmarie Suarez and Victoria Duarte.

Markle and Williams then made it three straight CSUN wins at No. 2 with a 21-13, 21-11 victory. That set up the second flight of matches that were all dominated by the Matadors. Pinkney and Conati made quick work of the Golden Eagles at No. 5, winning 21-1, 21-12 to clinch the dual win.

McMurray and Russell then won 21-12, 21-8 at No. 3 before Sato and Owens improved to 4-1 on the season with a 21-14, 21-17 win over Karla Santos and Alejandra Negron.

CSUN, which concluded the season-opening homestand at 4-1, heads north this weekend as the Matadors are co-hosting the Big West-West Coast Challenge with San Francisco in Santa Cruz. CSUN will take on USF, Portland and Pacific on a busy Saturday of beach volleyball.

#GoMatadors