California State University at Northridge
Cal State LA
Matadors Open Busy Weekend vs. Cal State LA & Westcliff on Friday
3/1/2023 11:11:00 AM | Beach Volleyball
MATADORS THIS WEEK:
Friday, Mar. 3, 2023
CSUN Beach Volleyball Complex - Northridge, Calif.
CSUNÂ vs. Cal State LA - 9Â a.m.
CSUN vs. Westcliff - 1 p.m.
Saturday, Mar. 4, 2023
CSUN Beach Volleyball Complex - Northridge, Calif..
CSUN vs. CSU Bakersfield - 10 a.m.
CSUN vs. Boise State - 2Â p.m.
Sunday, Mar. 5, 2023
CSUN Beach Volleyball Complex - Northridge, Calif.
CSUNÂ @ HCU - 9Â a.m.
CSUN vs. Boise State - 1Â p.m.
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNBeach
FORÂ STARTERS
After officially opening its 10th season of beach volleyball last week, the CSUN beach volleyball team hosts four teams on Friday in addition to a pair of tri-duals this weekend.
The busy week on the sand opens Friday as the Matadors welcome Cal State LA, CSU Bakersfield and Westcliff to the CSUN Beach Volleyball Complex for a full day of beach volleyball beginning at 9 a.m. The Matadors and Golden Eagles are scheduled to get the day underway at 9 a.m. before CSUB and Cal State LA play at 11 a.m. CSUN and Westcliff then square off at 1 p.m. followed by the Roadrunners and Westcliff which close the day starting at 3 p.m.
Saturday's tri-dual with CSU Bakersfield and Boise State gets underway at 10 a.m., while Sunday's tri-dual - which opens at 9Â a.m. -Â will feature Houston Christian and Boise State.
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
Cal State LA (0-2) opened the 2023 season last Friday, falling to Westcliff (4-1) and The Master's University (4-1) in Santa Clarita. Iane Henke and Ashley Dittmann picked up both of the Golden Eagle wins in the No. 1 pair.
Series: Friday's match is the 10th meeting all-time between the Matadors and Golden Eagles with CSUN a perfect 10-0 in the series dating back to 2017. The two teams met twice last season with the Matadors winning both matches by a 4-1 score.Â
Westcliff (6-0) takes an unbeaten record into a Thursday dual at Concordia before taking on the Matadors and Cal State LA on Friday. Westcliff swept Life Pacific (5-0) in its most recent match (Feb. 23) as the Warriors with four of the five matches winning in straight sets.
Series:Â The Matadors and Warriors have met three times with Westcliff claiming 4-1 and 3-2 wins last season. CSUN won the first dual, 4-1 in 2019.
CSU Bakersfield (0-0) had its season-opening Barnes Beach Complex `Runner Invite canceled last weekend (Feb. 24-25) due to Inclement weather. The 'Runners will now open their season in Northridge on Friday. CSUB will take on Cal State LA and Westcliff on Friday before meeting the Matadors and Boise State on Saturday at the CSUN Beach Volleyball Complex.
Series: Saturday's match will be the 24th meeting all-time between the Matadors and 'Runners with CSUN holding a 13-10 edge in the series. The 23-match series between the Matadors and CSU Bakersfield, which dates back to 2014, is the largest in CSUN's beach program history.
Boise State (3-1) opened the 2023 season last weekend at the Cactus Classic in Tucson, Ariz., winning three of four. The Broncos, receiving votes in this week's AVCA Collegiate Beach Poll, topped Colorado-Mesa (4-1), Arizona State (3-2) and Oregon (3-2) before falling to No. 18 Arizona (5-0). Boise State's No. 1 pair of Sierra Land and Madison Nichols went 3-1 to earn Southland Conference Pair of the Week honors.Â
Series:Â CSUN and Boise State will meet for just fourth and fifth time this weekend. The Broncos have won two straight (2021, 2022) in the series after the Matadors won 3-2 in the first meeting between the two teams in 2015.
HCU (2-2) opened the season with four matches at the Third Coast College Classic in Houston. The Huskies swept Central Arkansas (5-0) before falling to No. 3 TCU (5-0). On day two, HCU defeated UAB (3-2) before falling to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (5-0). The Huskies heads take on Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine in Malibu on Saturday before traveling to face the Matadors and Boise State on Sunday.
Series:Â Saturday's match is the first-ever meeting between the Matadors and Huskies.
CSUN SPLITS SEASON-OPENING TRI-DUAL
The CSUN beach volleyball team (1-1) split its season-opening tri-dual on Thursday as the Matadors held off Concordia, 3-2 after falling to No. 6 Grand Canyon earlier in the day.
NO. 6 GRAND CANYON 5, CSUNÂ 0
The Matadors opened the season against the preseason sixth-ranked Lopes and came up empty in all five matches. GCU's Anaya Evans and Cami Sanchez opened the scoring in the No. 4 pair, sweeping CSUN's Mac McCarthy and Abigail Alvarez, 21-11, 21-10. Samaya Morin and Abbie Hughes made it 2-0 Lopes with a 21-11, 21-12 victory over Emily Sparks and Mikaela Maughan in the No. 2 pair. The teams also played an exhibition No. 6 match with Sarah Dickson/Kamilah Checani of GCU defeating the Matadors' Abbey Sweeting and Gabriela Griego by the score of 21-12, 21-13.
The Lopes would clinch the dual as the second flight opened when Allison Hanson and Allanis Navas swept Lauren Eknoian and Tasha Mae in the No. 1 pair, 21-12, 21-13. The final two matches also went to GCU in straight sets as Jessica Drake and Mackenzie Harris topped Seyvion Waggoner and Kinley Lindhardt, 21-15, 21-12 and Dana Roskic and Krista Rowan defeated True McCullough and Victoria Rogers, 21-12, 24-22.
CSUNÂ 3, CONCORDIA 2
After GCU defeated Concordia 5-0 in the middle dual, the Matadors and Golden Eagles battled through steady rain in a tight 3-2 CSUN win. The Matadors took the opening point as Sparks and Maughan swept Sara Ostojic and Hailee Ryan in the No. 2 pair, 21-19, 27-25. The win gave Maughan her 50th career individual win and puts her within two of Kailey Klein's program record. CUI pulled even with a win in the No. 4 pair as Eva Prewitt and Kelissa Lemoine pulled out a three-set win (18-21, 21-16, 15-12) decision over McCarthy and Alvarez. In the exhibition match, CSUN picked up a win as Sweeting and Griego won the first time as a pair, sweeping Lauren Clifton and Ashleigh Souza, 21-15, 21-15.
Eknoian and Mae opened the second flight with a 21-19, 21-13 win over Olivia Highstreet and Hannah Phair that put the Matadors up 2-1. But the Golden Eagles answered right back as the No. 5 pair of Lily Dyer and Carly Moreno won a tight 28-26, 21-19 decision over Waggoner and Lindhardt to even the score at 2-2. That turned all the attention on the No. 3 pair as McCullough and Rogers came back after dropping the first set to beat Tatum Smith and Kella Giusta in three sets, 19-21, 21-16, 15-12.Â
BIG WEST BEACH VOLLEYBALL
2023 not only marks CSUN's 10th season of beach volleyball but its eighth season as a member of the Big West Conference. The Matadors are 6-12 all-time in the Big West Championship since the inaugural championship in 2016. The postseason tournament was not held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the 2022 Big West Championship, held at Cal Poly's Swanson Beach Volleyball Complex, the Matadors finished in fifth place after winning one of three matches. CSUN opened with a 5-0 loss to Cal Poly before staving off elimination with a 4-1 win over Sacramento State. The Matadors then fell to UC Davis in an elimination match and finished the championship with a 1-2 record.
The 2021 Big West Championships, at Rosie's Dog Beach, finished in a similar formula for the Matadors. CSUN opened with a 5-0 loss to Hawai'i before sweeping Sacramento State, 5-0. The Matadors were then eliminated by CSU Bakersfield in a close 3-2 final.
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).Â
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.Â
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
After splitting their season-opening tri-dual, the Matadors are now 84-97 (.464) all-time in their 10th season of beach volleyball, including a 54-30 (.643) record on their home sand.Â
After setting a program record for most wins in one season with 17 in 2018, the Matadors matched that total with a 17-17 overall record in 2022. CSUN also 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.
#GoMatadors
