California State University at Northridge
Loyola Marymount
CSUN Beach Volleyball Opens 2022 With Pair of Tri-Duals
2/23/2022 10:03:00 AM | Beach Volleyball
MATADORS THIS WEEK:
Friday, Feb. 25, 2022
Ocean Beach Courts - Santa Monica, Calif.
CSUNÂ vs. No. 4 Loyola Marymount - 10Â a.m.
CSUNÂ vs. No. 11 California - 12Â p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022
CSUN Beach Volleyball Complex - Northridge, Calif.
Oregon vs. CSUN vs. Oregon - 11 a.m.
The Master's University vs. CSUN - 3:00 p.m.
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNBeach
FORÂ STARTERS
The CSUN Matadors officially open their ninth season of beach volleyball this Friday (Feb. 25), traveling down the coast to Santa Monica to take on No. 4 Loyola Marymount and No. 11 California in the season-opening tri-dual. The season-opening week of play continues Saturday as CSUN hosts Oregon (11 a.m.) and The Master's University (1:30 p.m.) in a pair of Saturday dual matches.
Saturday's tri-dual against Oregon and The Master's is the first of seven tri-duals the Matadors are scheduled to host in 2022. In all, CSUN will host 16 matches at the Matador Beach Volleyball Complex. Spectators are welcome to attend CSUN Beach Volleyball matches in 2022 but must adhere to the CSUN spectator policy.
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
Loyola Marymount (0-0) is ranked No. 4 in the AVCA Collegiate Beach Preseason Coaches Poll after finishing 31-8 overall and 9-0 in the WCC in 2021. The Lions won the West Coast Conference and went on to knock off LSU and UCLA to advance to the semifinals of the NCAA tournament.
Series:Â Friday's match is the 12th meeting all-time between the Matadors and Lions with LMU holding a commanding 10-1 lead in the series. The two teams first met in 2014 and met twice last season with the Lions taking a pair of 5-0 decisions in Northridge. CSUN's lone win in the series came in 2016 when the Matadors won a tight 3-2 decision at the Matador Beach Volleyball Complex.
Cal (0-0) is also ranked in the AVCA Collegiate Beach Preseason Coaches Poll (No. 11) after finishing the 2021 season with an overall record of 16-13 (5-5 in the Pac-12). Last season, the Bears collected four wins over top-10 teams, equaling the amount of top-10 wins in program history prior to 2021. Cal, which has six returners back from 2021, finished the season with only one loss to a team that wasn't ranked in the top 12.
Series:Â The Matadors and Golden Bears have met once previously with Cal pulling out a 3-2 win in Northridge in 2017.Â
Oregon (0-0), which opens 2022 with a pair of matches at Irvine Valley College on Friday, finished the 2021 season with an 8-11 record, setting a program record for single-season wins. The Ducks also posted a match win at the Pac-12 Championships for just the second time in program history, defeating Utah (3-2) in the first round of the conference tournament.
Series: Saturday's match is the second meeting all-time between the Matadors and Ducks. The first meeting on Mar. 27, 2014 was historic for CSUN as it earned the program's first-ever win in its first season of beach volleyball. On the final day of the 2014 season, the Matadors and Oregon met at USC's Merle Norman Stadium and CSUN won the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 5 pairs to pull out the memorable 3-2 victory. Â
The Master's (4-1)Â opened the 2022 season with four consecutive wins before falling to Concordia-Irvine (4-1) last Saturday. The Mustangs will travel to Life Pacific on Friday before heading to Northridge for Saturday's tri-dual. The Master's has wins over Arizona Christian (3-2), Hope International (3-2), San Diego Christian (3-2) and Saint Katherine (3-2).
Series:Â CSUN and The Master's will meet for the fourth time since 2020. The Matadors, unbeaten in three previous meetings, claimed a 5-0 win in 2020 and a pair of 4-1 wins in 2021.
2022Â CSUN BEACH VOLLEYBALL SEASONÂ PREVIEW
The Matadors open the 2022 campaign looking to build on the success they've enjoyed in recent seasons. Under the direction of interim head coach John Price, who returns to the beach program after serving as an assistant in the program's inaugural season (2014), the Matadors return nine players from the 2021 team that finished 11-15. Price also welcomes three newcomers to the team this season.
"This a good group to work with and the preseason training has been a lot of fun," said Price. "I don't come into the season with any expectations other than I expect the team to play hard and fight for every point in every match we play, no matter who we're playing. If we show up and play hard in each and every match, the wins and losses will take care of themselves."
Leading the way for CSUN in 2022 is the senior pair of Darbi Honeycutt and Mikaela Maughan. The duo has won a program record 32 times since debuting in 2019. Honeycutt and Maughan finished 17-11 in 2019, 2-1 in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and 13-13 in 2021. Fellow senior Kailey Klein also returns after pairing with departed senior Lauren McMurray for 12 wins in 2021. Klein heads into her senior season with 32 individual wins, sixth-best in program history.
CSUN will have to make-up for the loss of McMurray who graduated as the all-time individual wins leader in program history with 48. Honeycutt and Maughan each have 32 career individual wins as the 2022 gets underway. Sophomores True McCullough and Emily Sparks return after posting a 10-10 record last season while senior Seyvion Waggoner won nine times in 2021. The pair of Victoria Rogers and Abbey Sweeting finished 8-8 last season which ranked third in winning percentage on the team. Junior Lauren Eknoian paired with paired with two different partners last season, compiling an overall record of 7-15.
The Matadors added a pair of junior college transfers in Darynne Bickers (Ventura College) and Gaby Griego (Irvine Valley College) as well as freshman Jadin Williams (Mayfair HS).
BIG WEST BEACH VOLLEYBALL
2022 marks CSUN's seventh season as a member of the Big West Conference in beach volleyball. The Matadors are 5-10 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.Â
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.
Last season in the tournament held at Rosie's Dog Beach in Long Beach, the Matadors were swept (5-0) by Hawai'i before sweeping Sacramento State (5-0). CSUN was then knocked off by CSU Bakersfield (3-2) in an elimination match.
CSUN BEACH VOLLEYBALL HISTORY
The Matadors are 66-79 (.455) all-time in eight seasons of beach volleyball, including a 40-23 (.635) 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. After posting 16 wins in 2019, the 2020 season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic with the Matadors off to a 4-1 start. CSUN won 11 times in 2021, finishing with an overall record of 11-15.
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