CSUN Comes Up Short in 3-2 Loss to Colorado Mesa

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - Battling through incessant rain in the San Fernando Valley, the CSUN beach volleyball team (9-6) came up short in a 3-2 decision to visiting Colorado Mesa on Wednesday at the CSUN Beach Volleyball Complex.

CSUN's second scheduled match of the day was postponed due to weather in the area.

Winners of six of the previous seven matches between the two teams, the Matadors got off to a good start Wednesday, winning the No. 2 and No. 4 pairs in three sets. Abbey Sweeting and Gabriela Griego picked up the opening point of the dual as CSUN's No. 4 pair topped Tye Wedhorn and Sabrina VanDeList by the score of 17-21, 21-13, 15-9. The pairs win for Sweeting and Griego was their team-leading 11th of the season. Emily Sparks and Mikaela Maughan then made it 2-0 CSUN as they also dropped the opening set before winning the final two. Sparks and Maughan defeated Savannah Spitzer and Hahni Johnson, 20-22, 21-19, 15-12 for their ninth win of the season.

CSUN also picked up a win in the No. 6 exhibition matchup as Kinley Lindhardt and Layla Cederlind teamed up for the first time this season to defeat Sydney Letter and Rianne Brown, 20-22, 21-19, 15-13

Needing just one win in the final flight, the Matadors came up empty as the Mavericks took a straight-set win at No. 3 before pulling out three set wins in the 1's and 5's to earn the win. CMU's Jada Hall and Gracyn Spresser swept Victoria Rogers and Mac McCarthy in the No. 3 pair, 21-17, 21-17 before Holly Schmidt and Macie Lachemann overcame a 21-14 loss in set one to knock off CSUN's Lauren Eknoian and Tasha Mae 21-18, 15-9 over the final two sets to even the team score at 2-2. The dual would come down to the No. 5 pair as Hailey Peters and Savannah Ott defeated Seyvion Waggoner and Abigail Alvarez in a hard-fought 21-19, 23-25, 16-14 decision.

COACH ARI HOMAYUN SAID
"Had a couple of good pieces today, we just didn't have enough to get the win. I'm excited for this weekend for the opportunity to try and put it all together against some really good teams. The tournament is always a great marker for us, not only to see how we stack up against everyone else, but to see how much better we can get by the time we get to Hawai'i. I think we are better than were last year and I hope to surprise some teams."

UP NEXT
The Matadors will head to San Luis Obispo this weekend for the Bigger West Invitational at the Swanson Beach Volleyball Complex. CSUN will play three matches on both Saturday and Sunday. The Matadors will take on No. 8 Hawai'i (10 a.m.), No. 12 Long Beach State (1 p.m.) and CSU Bakersfield on Saturday before capping the event on Sunday against UC Davis (10 a.m.), Sacramento State (2 p.m.) and host Cal Poly (4 p.m.).

COLORADO MESA 3, CSUN 2
#1 - Schmidt/Lachemann (CMU) def. Eknoian/Mae (CSUN) – 14-21, 21-18, 15-9
#2 - Sparks/Maughan (CSUN) def. Spitzer/Johnson (CMU) – 20-22, 21-19, 15-12
#3 - Spresser/Hall (CMU) def. McCarthy/Rogers (CSUN), 21-17, 21-17
#4 - Sweeting/Griego (CSUN) def. Wedhorn/VanDeList (CMU) – 17-21, 21-13, 15-9
#5 - Peters/Ott (CMU) def. Alvarez/Waggoner (CSUN) – 21-19, 23-25, 16-14

#GoMatadors

CSUN Comes Up Short in 3-2 Loss to Colorado Mesa

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Players Mentioned

Abigail Alvarez

Layla Cederlind

Lauren Eknoian

Gabriela Griego

Kinley Lindhardt

Tasha Mae

Mikaela Maughan

Mac McCarthy

Victoria Rogers

Emily Sparks

Abbey Sweeting

Seyvion Waggoner