California State University Northridge Athletics
California State University at Northridge
Loyola Marymount
Beach Volleyball Hosts LMU, Vanguard In Season Opening Tri-Dual
2/26/2019 4:00:00 PM | Beach Volleyball
Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019
Matador Beach Volleyball Facility - Northridge, Calif.
CSUNÂ vs. Loyola Marymount - 11 a.m.
CSUNÂ vs. Vanguard - 3 p.m.
Saturday, Mar. 2, 2019
Zuma Beach - Malibu, Calif.
CSUNÂ vs. Long Beach State - 8Â a.m.
CSUNÂ vs. CSU Bakersfield - 10Â a.m.
CSUN vs. Pepperdine - 1 p.m.
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNBeach
FORÂ STARTERS
After sweeping all four exhibition matches at the annual JC/Ramon Calderon Cup last weekend, the CSUN Matadors officially open their sixth season of beach volleyball this Thursday (Feb. 28), hosting Loyola Marymount (11 a.m.) and Vanguard University (3 p.m.) in a tri-dual. LMU and Vanguard will play in the middle dual at 1 p.m.
The Matadors then head to the coast Saturday for the Zuma Classic which pits CSUN against Long Beach State, CSU Bakersfield and Pepperdine at Zuma Beach.
FOLLOW YOUR MATADORS ONLINE
Follow CSUN Matadors beach volleyball on-line at the official home of CSUN athletics, www.GoMatadors.com. For road matches, related links to the match, including for any live stats, audio and video, will be posted before the match on the beach volleyball schedule page of GoMatadors.com.Â
Fans are also encouraged to check the CSUN Athletics Department's official Twitter feed (@GoMatadors) and the beach volleyball-specific feed (@CSUNBeach) for news and notes throughout the week as well as updates of matches in progress.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
No. 13 Loyola Marymount (3-0) opened the season last weekend, winning all three of its matches in Phoenix, Ariz. The Lions edged Grand Canyon, 3-2 before sweeping both Arizona State and New Mexico by the score of 5-0 ... Vanguard (1-1) opened the season with a tri-dual at CSU Bakersfield with the Lions defeating Cal State LA (4-1) before falling to the host Roadrunners (4-1).Â
No. 8 Long Beach State (2-0) opened the season last week with 5-0 wins over Cal State LA and Long Beach City College ... CSU Bakersfield (2-0) opened the season at home with a 5-0 win over Cal State LA and a 4-1 win over Vanguard ... No. 3 Pepperdine (3-1) took three of four at the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic in Hawai'i last weekend. The Waves topped Stanford (3-2), Hawai'i (3-2) and Saint Mary's (5-0) before falling to top-ranked UCLA, 4-1.
TO RECAP
CSUN Beach Volleyball unofficially opened the 2019 season Friday, posting a pair of 5-0 exhibition sweeps over Long Beach City College and Ventura College as part of CSUN's annual JC/Calderon Cup. The Matadors opened with a 5-0 win over Long Beach City College as CSUN won in straight sets at No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 and claimed 2-1 wins at No. 1 and No. 2. CSUN then swept Ventura, 5-0 in the final dual of the afternoon. The Matadors opened the day with a 5-0 win over El Camino College as CSUN won in straight sets in all five matches plus the No. 6 exhibition contest. The Matadors completed the weekend with a 5-0 sweep over Moorpark in the final dual of the afternoon as CSUN won in straight sets in all six matches.
ACCORDING TO HEAD COACHÂ NOELLE ROOKE
"Our pairs have been battling every day in practice and understand the importance of competing with maximum effort no matter what seed they will play against any given opponent. With so many new faces, last weekend was instrumental for the young players on our team working out the jitters of playing a collegiate beach volleyball match for the first time."Â
BIG WEST BEACH VOLLEYBALL
This season marks CSUN's fourth season as a member of the Big West Conference in beach volleyball. The Matadors, seeded fourth in the six-team field in Hawai'i in 2018, were upset by fifth-seeded CSU Bakersfield in the opening round (3-2) before falling to No. 2 seed Cal Poly in an elimination match (5-0).The Matadors were also seeded fourth at the 2017 Big West Tournament held at Pismo Beach, but fell to Sacramento State (3-2) and Cal Poly (5-0) in their two tournament matches.
In 2016, CSUN was the third seed in the conference tournament before finishing 2-2 including a close 3-2 loss to Cal Poly in a third round elimination match at Huntington Beach. CSUN will host the 2019 Big West Tournament, scheduled for Apr. 26-27, at Zuma Beach in Malibu.
#GoMatadors
