California State University Northridge Athletics
7/11/2022 8:32:00 AM | General, Beach Volleyball
In addition to several record-breaking individual performances, the CSUN Beach Volleyball team matched the single-season program record when the Matadors defeated Sacramento State on Apr. 29 for their 17th victory of the season.
After falling to Cal Poly in their opener and needing a win to stave off elimination at the Big West Championship in San Luis Obispo, the Matadors responded with a 4-1 victory over the Hornets to improve to 17-16 on the season. CSUN would fall in its next match to UC Davis (4-1) to finish the season at 17-17.
The Matadors, who finished a program-best 17-8 under Noelle Rooke in 2018, matched that total under interim head coach John Price this season.
"I think we had a difficult start to the season so to finish with 17 wins is pretty remarkable," said Price. "We definitely made some strides since the Big West Challenge in March which was important. The Big West is a very good beach volleyball conference and I'm proud of the progress we made as a team this season."
By capping the home season with wins over Life Pacific and Saint Katherine on Apr. 2, the Matadors finished a program-best 13-5 in 18 home matches in 2022. CSUN matched the 2021 team for the most-ever home matches in program history (18) but won three more times than the 2021 team which finished 10-8 on the home sand.
CSUN's No. 4 pair of Kailey Klein and Victoria Rogers finished the 2022 season with a team-high 18 wins, all coming in the No. 4 slot. The pair went 1-2 at the Big West Championship to complete an 18-win season which ties with Taylor Brydon and Lauren McMurray (2019) and Aeryn Owens and Katie Sato (2018) for most season wins in program history. Klein picked up the 49th and 50th individual wins of her four-year career on Apr. 2 to pass former partner Lauren McMurray and become the all-time leader in wins in program history. With the win over Sacramento State on Apr. 29, Klein concluded her CSUN career with a program record 52 individual wins while Rogers won a season-record 21 times in 2022.
Fellow seniors Darbi Honeycutt and Mikaela Maughan won 11 times this season giving the pair a program record 43 wins as a pair. Honeycutt and Maughan have played together a majority of their time at CSUN (2019-22). Maughan also ranks second in individual career wins with 49 followed by Honeycutt who is tied for third with 48. Seyvion Waggoner, also a four-year letterwinner, ranks seventh in program history with 33 individual wins winning 18 times this season. Rogers closed her career with 30 career wins in two seasons after transferring from San Francisco.
In addition to Klein and Rogers' 18 wins, three CSUN pairs finished the 2022 season with double figures in wins this season. Lauren Eknoian and Emily Sparks and Waggoner and True McCullough each finished with 13 victories while Honeycutt and Maughan won 11 times.
CSUN had multiple pairs honored on the All-Big West Team as Klein and Rogers and Eknoian and Sparks were named honorable mention. Eknoian and Sparks were also one of three CSUN pairs to earn double figure wins this season. Playing primarily in the No. 1 pair for the first time this season, Eknoian and Sparks won 13 times. The pair went 11-16 in the No. 1 spot and 2-3 playing in the No. 2 position.
#UniteTheValley
