California State University at Northridge
UC Davis
Matadors Open Big West Tournament vs. UC Davis
4/24/2019 10:46:00 AM | Beach Volleyball
Tournament Bracket (PDF)
2019Â BIG WEST TOURNAMENT
Winners Bracket
First Round Match:
No. 4 Seed CSUN (14-10) vs. No. 5 Seed UC Davis (8-8)Â
Friday, Apr. 26, 2019Â - 9:00 a.m. PDT
Zuma Beach - Malibu, Calif.
Watch
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNBeach
FORÂ STARTERS
The CSUN Beach Volleyball team is seeded fourth heading into the 2019 Big West Beach Volleyball Championship this weekend (Apr. 26-27) at Zuma Beach in Malibu. Seven conference teams will take to the courts at Zuma Beach looking to capture the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in the fourth edition of the Big West Women's Beach Volleyball Tournament.
The Matadors (14-10) will open the double elimination conference championship tournament against fifth-seeded UC Davis (8-8)Â Friday morning at 9Â a.m. The winner of the opening match will advance to take on top-seeded Hawai'i at 12Â p.m. while the loser will play in an elimination match at 3Â p.m.
Hawai'i is the tournament's top seed followed by Long Beach State (2), Cal Poly (3), UC Davis (5), CSU Bakersfield (6) and Sacramento State (7). Other first round matches on Friday include Cal Poly-Sacramento State at 10 a.m. and Long Beach State-CSU Bakersfield at 11 a.m.Â
FOLLOW YOUR MATADORS ONLINE
For the first time in conference history, the Big West Beach Volleyball Tournament will be streamed live by p1440. Fans will be able to watch all 12 matches on the platform.
"The Big West is thrilled to be partnering with p1440 for the streaming of our beach volleyball championship," said Commissioner Dennis Farrell. "This opportunity will allow beach volleyball fans around the world to witness our first class programs and see the excitement of collegiate beach volleyball."
Fans can also 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. 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.
BIG WEST TOURNAMENT HISTORY
2019 marks CSUN's fourth season as a member of the Big West Conference in beach volleyball. The Matadors were seeded fourth at the 2018 Big West Tournament held at Queens Beach in Hawai'i, but fell to CSU Bakersfield (3-2) and Cal Poly (5-0) in their two tournament matches. Top-seeded Hawai'i won its third consecutive tournament championship last April.
In 2017 at Pismo Beach, CSUN was also the No. 4 seed before being eliminated on day one with losses to Sacramento State (3-2) and Cal Poly (5-0). In 2016, CSUN was the third seed in the conference tournament and the Matadors finished 2-2 including a close 3-2 loss to Cal Poly in a third round elimination match at Huntington Beach. CSUN opened the 2016 tournament with a 4-1 win over Sacramento State before falling to Long Beach State (5-0). The Matadors staved off elimination with a 3-2 win over CSU Bakersfield before bowing out with a tight 3-2 loss to the Mustangs.
The Matadors head into this week's Big West Championship with an all-time record of 2-6 in conference tournament matches.Â
MATADOR BEACH NOTES
CSUN heads into the conference tournament having posted the second-most wins in program history (14). The Matadors now have 31 wins over the last two seasons, including a program-best 17 victories in 2018.
The Matadors are 5-5 this season against the tournament field with three of the five wins coming over CSU Bakersfield. CSUN fell to the Roadrunners, 4-1 at Zuma Beach in early March before taking the next three matches. The Matadors also have 3-2 wins over both UC Davis and Sacramento State (Mar. 31) at the Big West Challenge at Pismo Beach (Mar. 30-31). CSUN is 0-2 this season against Long Beach State, 0-1 against Cal Poly and 0-1 against Hawai'i.
"Our goal is always to be successful and play well and, in this case make it to the next day," said CSUN head coach Noelle Rooke. "As we prepare for the tournament, we know we only have a few players who have played in a conference tournament before. So obviously eight of our players have never been in this position before so we just want to keep getting better every year, so that's the goal and we'll work hard to achieve it."
The only CSUN players with previous Big West Tournament experience are Lauren McMurray, Daniella Molinari and Cassidy Rosso. Molinari teamed with Erin Indermill in 2018, losing the No. 4 match to CSU Bakersfield and the No. 3 match to Cal Poly. McMurray and Rosso played together at last season's championship, falling to Cal Poly in the No. 4 pair. McMurray paired with Autumn Russell in the No. 3 pair, falling to CSU Bakersfield, 21-10, 21-15. Â
CSUN's No. 3 pair of McMurray and Taylor Brydon carry a team-leading 16-8 record and a six-match winning streak into the tournament. Brydon and McMurray's last loss came to No. 9 Long Beach State on Mar. 31 and the pair is 7-3 over its last 10 matches. A pair of freshman pairs, Darbi Honeycutt and Mikaela Maughan and Lexi McLeod and Nicole Nevarez, both sport 15-9 records heading into the conference tournament. Honeycutt and Maughan are on a five-match winning streak and 7-3 over their last 10 in the No. 2 position. McLeod and Nevarez also carry a six-match win streak and are also 7-3 over their last 10 matches at No. 4.
Rosso and Kailey Klein also have double figure wins with 14 on the season. CSUN's No. 5 pair has also won six straight matches heading into the weekend.
SERIES RECORDS
Friday's first round match marks just the second meeting all time between CSUN and UC Davis. In the first ever meeting between the Matadors and Aggies in beach volleyball on Mar. 30,  CSUN pulled out a 3-2 win over the first-year program.
The Matadors got wins from Brydon and McMurray (No. 4), Nevarez and McLeod (No. 3) and Honeycutt and Maughan (No. 2) to earn the 3-2 win.
CSUN BEACH VOLLEYBALL HISTORY
The Matadors have steadily improved since the induction of the sport in 2014. Playing 10 matches, all on the road in its inaugural season, CSUN finished 1-9 in 2014. The Matadors picked up their first-ever beach volleyball win on Mar. 27, 2014 when CSUN defeated Oregon (3-2) at USC's Merle Norman Stadium.
The Matadors then debuted their on-campus facility in 2015, playing 11 matches overall and four matches at home. CSUN's first-ever home match was Mar. 5, 2015 against No. 7 UCLA, the Matadors falling 4-1. CSUN won at home for the first time on Mar. 9 of the 2015 season when the Matadors defeated TCU 4-1. CSUN ultimately upped their season win total to three culminating with a 3-8 season.
CSUN's 2016 season was its most successful to date as the Matadors finished 8-14 before falling to Cal Poly in the third round of the Big West Tournament. CSUN posted an overall record of 6-14 in 2017 before setting the program record with 17 wins last season.
#GoMatadors
