Honeycutt & Maughan Claim Gold Bracket at CSUB Pairs Tournament

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - CSUN's Darbi Honeycutt and Mikaela Maughan won all five matches to claim the Gold Bracket championship Friday in a pairs tournament at CSU Bakersfield's Barnes Beach Volleyball Complex..

POOL PLAY
CSUN and CSU Bakersfield split their six pairings across three different pools to open the tournament. Honeycutt and Maughan joined teammates True McCullough and Emily Sparks in Pool 1. McCullough and Sparks dropped their opener to 15-13 to Cameron Solberg and Milica Vukobrat. Honeycutt and Maughan then defeated Hayley McCluskey and Mapuhola Sekona by the score of 15-8. The CSUN pair then went extra points to hold off Solberg and Vukobrat, 18-16 before taking the top record in pool play with a 15-12 win over McCullough and Sparks which finished 0-3 in pool play.

In Pool 2, CSUN's pair of Lexi McLeod and Seyvion Waggoner finished second despite finishing 1-2. McLeod and Waggoner fell to Seleisa Elisaia and Alaina Gendale, 15-7 before dropping a 15-12 decision to Emily Hansen and Hana Makonova. Victoria Rogers and Abbey Sweeting also played in Pool 2, falling to Hansen and Makanova, 15-3 before defeating Elisaia and Gendale, 15-9. McLeod and Waggoner picked up a 16-14 win over Rogers and Sweeting to claim second in the pool.

In Pool 3, the Matadors again claimed second as the pair of Lauren McMurray and Kailey Klein finished 2-1. The CSUN duo defeated Jazleigh Ortiz and Ericka Snopko, 15-12 before falling 15-13 to Brooke Boiseau and Anna Unke. McMurray and Klein wrapped up pool play with a 16-14 victory over teammates Meagan Carter and Lauren Eknoian. Carter and Eknoian would finish 0-3 with ensuing hard-fought losses to Boiseau and Unke (16-14) and Ortiz and Snopko (15-13).

BRACKET PLAY
After pool play was completed, the pairs were then ranked into three new pools, Gold, Silver, and Bronze, based on their performances. A final Round Robin circle would then produce three champions representing each pool.

Honeycutt and Maughan were drawn into the Gold Bracket and claimed two more wins giving the CSUN pair a 5-0 record on the day. They opened with a 21-14 victory over Boiseau and Unke (B3) 21-14 before claiming the bracket with a 21-18 victory over Hansen and Makonova. In the Silver Bracket, McMurray and Klein finished 1-1 to claim second place while McLeod and Waggoner took third. McMurray and Klein topped McLeod and Waggoner, 21-18 before falling to bracket winners Solberg and Vukobrat, 22-20. McLeod and Waggoner finished 0-2 in bracket play with a 21-13 setback to Solberg and Vukobrat. CSUN did not qualify a team into the Bronze Bracket to complete the final round of play.

COACH NOELLE ROOKE SAID
"Today was a welcomed change of pace to compete in a pairs tournament as it provided everyone an opportunity to play, regardless of seed and level of competition. I'm really proud of Darbi and Mikaela going undefeated and winning the Gold Bracket. They both played really steady in every set and proved to themselves that they are still peaking and getting better every time they step on the sand."

UP NEXT
The Matadors host CSU Bakersfield and Long Beach State in their final tri-dual of the regular season next Saturday, Apr. 24. CSUN and the Roadrunners will play at 11 a.m., followed by CSUB-Long Beach State at 1 p.m. and the Matadors and Beach complete the tri-dual at 3 p.m.

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Honeycutt & Maughan Claim Gold Bracket at CSUB Pairs Tournament

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Players Mentioned

Meagan Carter

Lauren Eknoian

Darbi Honeycutt

Kailey Klein

Mikaela Maughan

True McCullough

Lexi McLeod

Lauren McMurray

Victoria Rogers

Emily Sparks

Abbey Sweeting

Seyvion Waggoner