California State University at Northridge
Grand Canyon
Pair of Ranked Teams Visit CSUN Beach Volleyball Complex This Weekend
4/7/2021 7:23:00 PM | Beach Volleyball
MATADORS THIS WEEK:
Friday, Apr. 9, 2021
CSUN Beach Volleyball Complex - Northridge, Calif.
CSUN vs. No. 9 Grand Canyon - 1:00 p.m.
Saturday, Apr. 10, 2021
CSUN Beach Volleyball Complex - Northridge, Calif.
CSUN vs. No. 9 Grand Canyon - 11:00 a.m.
CSUN vs. No. 16 Long Beach State - 3:00 p.m.
In-game Twitter updates: @CSUNBeach
FOR STARTERS
The CSUN Matadors (9-9) conclude a seven-match homestand this weekend, hosting No. 9 Grand Canyon for a single dual on Friday (1 p.m.) followed by a tri-dual with the Lopes and No. 16 Long Beach State on Saturday. The Matadors take on GCU at 11 a.m. before the Lopes and Long Beach square off at 1 p.m. CSUN closes the tri-dual against the Beach at 3 p.m. After dropping five straight duals in San Luis Obispo (Mar. 26-27), the Matadors won four straight last weekend to improve to 9-9 on the season and 9-4 on their home sand.
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. 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.
Unfortunately all CSUN events on campus this Spring will be held without spectators. Our campus remains closed to all but essential personnel and we must discourage fans from attempting to watch a game from outside the venue. Matador Athletics understands and recognizes the disappointment felt by fans, particularly the families of our student-athletes and coaches, who are unable to show their support in person and appreciates everyone's effort in creating the safest possible environment for student-athletes, coaches and team staff. All of the rules and protocols that have been established are for the protection of our student-athletes, coaches and staff and will allow them to compete.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
No. 9 Grand Canyon (12-5) fell to No. 8 Pepperdine (3-2) last Saturday in its final dual of the Arizona Invitational at Bear Down Beach. The Lopes went 3-1 on the weekend and moved to 12-5 this season.
Series: The Matadors and Grand Canyon have met twice in beach volleyball with the Lopes taking both previous meetings. GCU topped CSUN 4-1 in Chula Vista in 2014 and also defeatedf CSUN 4-1 in Bakersfield in 2016.
No. 16 Long Beach State (11-10) fell to No. 10 Pepperdine in a tight 3-2 decision on Wednesday, the second time this season the Beach has fallen to Waves. Prior to Wednesday, Long Beach split its last four dual matches, with both wins and both losses coming against Hawai'i. Skyler Germann and Alice Pratesi improved to 15-3 playing in the No. 4 spot.
Series: The Matadors and Beach have met 12 times in beach volleyball with Long Beach winning all 12 previous matches. The teams last met in 2019 with the Beach taking a pair of 5-0 victories along with a 4-1 win.
TO RECAP
CSUN evened their season record at 9-9 after taking three of four dual matches by 5-0 sweep. After sweeping both Vanguard and Pacific on Friday, the Matadors picked up two more wins over Concordia-Irvine and St. Katherine on Saturday.
CSUN 3, CONCORDIA-IRVINE 2
The Matadors (9-9) opened the tri-dual by avenging a 3-2 loss to the Eagles earlier this season. Victoria Rogers and Annika Stevens topped Vern Wood and Cadee Amundsen in the No. 6 (exhibition pair), 21-16, 21-8 to open the first flight. Lauren McMurray and Kailey Klein picked up CSUN's initial point with a 21-17, 21-15 over Kya Bock/Marina Pilkington. Lexi McLeod and Seyvion Waggoner then made it 2-0 Matadors by going the distance to defeat Nickie Hughes and Sara Ostolic at No. 2, 21-19, 19-21, 15-8. The Matadors clinched the dual when Darbi Honeycutt and Mikaela Maughan swept Concordia's Mia Corippo and Hailee Ryan by the count of 21-12, 21-15. The final two matches went to the visitors as Shannon Evans and Alexis Dirige held off True McCulloughand Emily Sparks by the score of 21-19, 22-20 and Ellie Cary and Vanessa Bernzen defeated Meagan Carter and Lauren Eknoian 21-17, 21-19.
CSUN 5, ST. KATHERINE 0
The Matadors picked up their fifth sweep of the season, topping SKU 5-0 in the final dual. McMurray and Klein earned their 10th win of the season by sweeping Alexandra Toth and Makenzie Nuttingin the No. 4 match, 21-8, 21-10. McLeod and Waggoner then won their fourth straight with a 21-11, 21-7 win over Angelica Leuluai and Savannah Minshew at No. 2. Honeycutt and Maughan opened the second flight by clinching the dual with a 21-14, 21-11 win over Sami Jones and Ashlyn Ferriera. Rogers and Sweeting then swept Carrie Lynn and Abbey Ward, 21-8, 21-9 before Carter and Eknoian capped the sweep with a 21-8, 21-17 victory over Kaylin Henderson and Rene Wash on center court.
BIG WEST BEACH VOLLEYBALL
2021 marks CSUN's sixth season as a member of the Big West Conference in beach volleyball. The Matadors are 4-8 all-time in the Big West Tournament which was not held in 2020 due to COVID-19.
The Matadors were the No. 4 seed in the seven-team field at the 2019 Big West Tournament at Zuma Beach in Malibu. CSUN finished 2-2 in the championship tournament, their best showing since also finishing 2-2 in the inaugural conference tournament in 2016.
After winning two of three matches on the opening day, CSUN came up empty against No. 3 seed Long Beach State on Saturday and was the fourth squad eliminated from the tournament. Cal Poly, the No. 2 seed, went undefeated in four tournament matches to capture its first conference championship along with the Big West's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. Hawai'i, the top seed coming in, finished second.
At the 2018 championship in Hawai'i, the Matadors were seeded fourth in the six-team field in but were upset by fifth-seeded CSU Bakersfield in the opening round (3-2). CSUN then fell 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 inaugural 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 BEACH VOLLEYBALL HISTORY
The Matadors are 64-73 (.467) all-time in seven years of beach volleyball, including a 39-19 (.672) record on their home sand. After setting a program record for most wins in one season with 17 in 2018, the Matadors came within one victory of equaling the mark with a 16-12 record in 2019.
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. 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 its season win total to three culminating with a 3-8 overall season record to close the 2015 season.
The 2016 season saw the Matadors finish 8-14 before falling to Cal Poly in the third round of the Big West Tournament. CSUN then posted an overall record of 6-12 in 2017 before winning a program-record with 17 times in 2018 and posting 16 wins in 2019.
#UniteTheValley
