Matadors Fall to a Pair of Ranked Teams in Season-Opening Tri-Dual

CSUN-Loyola Marymount Final Results (PDF) // CSUN-Cal Final Results

SANTA MONICA, Calif. - The CSUN Beach Volleyball team dropped its season-opening tri-dual Friday as the Matadors fell to No. 4 Loyola Marymount (5-0) and No. 11 California (5-0) at Ocean Park Courts.

NO. 4 LOYOLA MARYMOUNT 5, CSUN 0
The Matadors and fourth-ranked Lions opened Friday's tri-dual with LMU winning 10 of the 11 sets in taking its season-opener. Avery Poppinga and Marine Kinna picked up the Lions' first win with a 21-16, 21-14 win over Lauren Eknoian and Emily Sparks in the No. 2 pair. Macy Gordon and Vilhelmiina Prithi made it 2-0 LMU with a 21-8, 21-13 win over True McCullough and Seyvion Waggoner at No. 4. The Lions earned the win when the No. 1 pair went final as Megan Rice and Reka Orsi Toth swept Darbi Honeycutt and Mikaela Maughan by the score of 21-12, 21-12.

The No. 3 pair also went to LMU in straight sets as Selina Marolf and Abbey Thorup defeated Abbey Sweeting and Victoria Rogers 21-10, 21-10. The Matadors managed a set win in the No. 5 pair but Cassie Chinn and Madi Firnett pulled out a 21-11, 19-21, 15-5 victory over Kailey Klein and Jadin Williams to take the 5-0 win.

NO. 11 CALIFORNIA 5, CSUN 0
Looking to salvage a split on the day, the Matadors came up short against the Bears in their second-ever meeting. Ainsley Radell and Ava Mann picked up Cal's opening point as the pair defeated Eknoian and Sparks in the No. 2 pair 21-15, 21-12. McCullough and Waggoner took the opening set from Lexi McKeown and Brooke Buchner at No. 4 (21-18) before the Golden Bears pair came back to pull out a 24-22 win in set two before taking the decisive set 15-9 to put Cal up 2-0.

The Golden Bears' No. 1 pair of Mima Mirkovic and Ana Costa clinched the win for Cal with a 21-10, 21-13 victory over Honeycutt and Maugan while Ella Dreibholz and Natalie Martin won the No. 5 over Klein and Williams by the score of 21-9, 21-11. Maya Gessner and Ashey Delgado then made it 5-0 Cal with a 21-17, 21-16 Sweeting and Rogers in the No. 3 contest.

COACH JOHN PRICE SAID
"Playing two really good teams in LMU and Cal on day one is a great way to evaluate where we're at in the beginning of the season. Outside of the results, I thought it was a really good day for us and we're looking forward to hosting Oregon and The Master's tomorrow."

UP NEXT
CSUN (0-2) hosts Oregon (2-0) and The Master's University in its home-opening tri-dual Saturday which gets underway with the Matadors taking on the Ducks at 11 a.m. Oregon takes on The Master's at 1 p.m. before CSUN closes the tri-dual against the Mustangs at 3 p.m.

NO. 4 LMU 5, CSUN 0
#1 - Rice/Orsi Toth (LMU) def. Honeycutt/Maughan (CSUN) – 21-12, 21-12
#2 - Popponga/Kinna (LMU) def. Eknoian/Sparks (CSUN) – 21-16, 21-14
#3 - Marolf/Thorup (LMU) def.Sweeting/Rogers (CSUN) – 21-10, 21-10
#4 - Gordon/Prithi (LMU) def. McCullough/Waggoner (CSUN) – 21-8, 21-13
#5 - Chinn/Firnett (LMU) def. Klein/Williams (CSUN) – 21-11, 19-21, 15-5

NO. 11 CALIFORNIA 5, CSUN 0
#1 - Mirkovic/Costa (Cal) def. Honeycutt/Maughan (CSUN) – 21-10, 21-13
#2 - Radell/Mann (Cal) def. Eknoian/Sparks (CSUN) – 21-15, 21-12
#3 - Gessner/Delgado (Cal) def. Sweeting/Rogers (CSUN) – 21-17, 21-16
#4 - McKeown/Buchner (Cal) def. McCullough/Waggoner (CSUN) – 18-21, 24-22, 15-8
#5 - Dreibholz/Martin (Cal) def. Klein/Williams (CSUN) – 21-9, 21-11

#UniteTheValley

Matadors Fall to a Pair of Ranked Teams in Season-Opening Tri-Dual

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Players Mentioned

Lauren Eknoian

Darbi Honeycutt

Kailey Klein

Mikaela Maughan

True McCullough

Victoria Rogers

Emily Sparks

Abbey Sweeting

Seyvion Waggoner

Jadin Williams