Matadors Drop Three Duals at the Zuma Classic

MALIBU, Calif. - The CSUN Beach Volleyball team dropped three matches on a cold and rainy Saturday at the Zuma Classic at Zuma Beach.

The Matadors (1-4) opened the day with a 4-1 loss to No. 8 Long Beach State before falling by the same 4-1 score to CSU Bakersfield in the middle dual. CSUN capped the day with a hard-fought 4-1 loss to No. 3 Pepperdine.

LONG BEACH STATE 4, CSUN 1
The eighth-ranked 49ers clinched the dual win early on, winning at No. 1, No. 3 and No. 2. Darbi Honeycutt and Mikaela Maughan played in the No. 1 spot for the first time this season and fell in straight sets (21-8, 21-14) to Mari Molina and Megan Kruidhof. The No. 3 pair of Taylor Brydon and Lauren McMurray lost to Allie Loitz and Sydney Stevens, 21-10, 21-13 before Long Beach won the dual with a 21-10, 21-15 win by Nicci Reinking and Zoe Konstantopolou over Daniella Molinari and Seyvion Waggoner. The No. 4 pair was the next to go final as Kendra Koelsch and Sophie Major topped CSUN's Nicole Nevarez and Lexi McLeod, 21-13, 21-9.

The Matadors picked up a point in the No. 5 pair as Cassidy Rosso and Kailey Klein defeated Tyler Spriggs and Claire Newlander in straight sets (21-19, 21-18). Long Beach State also captured the No. 6 exhibition match as Alexis Patterson and Claire Kindler defeated Shawnee De Oliveira and Kathryn Zaloom.

CSU BAKERSFIELD 4, CSUN 1
The Matadors dropped the middle dual to the Roadrunners despite two of the five matches going to a third set. After Mattison Degarmo and Briannah Martinez defeated Molinari and Waggoner, 21-9, 21-18 in the No. 1 pair, Brydon and McMurray evened the dual with a 21-9, 21-16 win over Ally Barber and Rafa Bonifacio in the No. 4 match. CSUB's Cameron Solberg and Milica Vukobrat then held off Honeycutt and Maughan, 21-15, 22-20 to take a 2-1 lead before Brooke Boiseau and Krista Hernandez clinched the Roadrunner win with a tight three-set (13-21, 21-8, 15-13) win over Rosso and Klein at No. 5.

Nevarez and McLeod completed the scoring, falling to CSUB by the score of 21-16, 18-21, 15-11 before Shawnee De Oliveira and Kathryn Zaloom won in the No. 6 exhibition match.

PEPPERDINE 4, CSUN 1
Looking for their first ever win over Pepperdine in beach volleyball, the Matadors dropped the first four matches before Honeycutt and Maughan picked up a 21-17, 21-16 win over Alexis Filippone and Maddie Dilfer at No. 2. Molinari and Waggoner dropped a 21-7, 21-8 decision at No. 1, Nevarez/McLeod fell by the score of 21-14, 21-8 at No. 3 before the third-ranked Waves clinched the win when Melanie Paul and Simone Priebe swept Rosso and Klein, 21-14, 21-13. The final Pepperdine win came in the No. 4 pair as McMurray and Brydon fell by the score of 21-14, 21-15.

COACH NOELLE ROOKE SAID
"I think the girls learned a lot about what it truly takes to persevere when faced with adversity and today that adversity was the trifecta of the rain, wind and cold. I'm extremely proud that we took one of the seeds off eighth-ranked Long Beach State and third-ranked Pepperdine. We're a very young program and everyone definitely understands the importance of the valuable experience they're gaining from playing good competition."

UP NEXT
The Matadors return home next Tuesday (Mar. 5) to host Cal State LA at 11 a.m. before heading to Pismo Beach for the Pairs Tournament where CSUN will take on Cal Poly and CSU Bakersfield on Saturday, Mar. 9.

#GoMatadors

Matadors Drop Three Duals at the Zuma Classic

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Players Mentioned

Taylor Brydon

Shawnee De Oliveira

Darbi Honeycutt

Kailey Klein

Mikaela Maughan

Lexi McLeod

Lauren McMurray

Daniella Molinari

Nicole Nevarez

Cassidy Rosso

Seyvion Waggoner

Kathryn Zaloom