California State University at Northridge
The Master's University
CSUN Beach Volleyball Opens Home Season With Friday Tri-Dual
2/29/2024 11:47:00 AM | Beach Volleyball
MATADORS THIS WEEK:
Friday, Mar. 1, 2024
CSUN Beach Volleyball Complex - Northridge, Calif.
CSUNÂ vs. The Master's University - 10Â a.m.
CSUN vs. Westcliff University - 2 p.m.
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNBeach
FORÂ STARTERS
After splitting a tri-dual in Irvine last week to open the season, CSUN beach volleyball (1-1) plays at home for the first time in 2024 on Friday (Mar. 1) hosting The Master's University and Westcliff at the CSUN Beach Volleyball Complex. The Matadors take on the Mustangs at 10 a.m., The Master's and Westcliff will meet at noon before CSUN and Westcliff conclude the tri-dual starting at 2 p.m.
FOLLOW YOUR MATADORS ONLINE
Follow CSUN Matadors beach volleyball online at the official home of CSUN athletics, www.GoMatadors.com. For road matches, related links to the match, including 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
The Master's (2-5)Â opened the season with a 4-1 win over NAIA top-ranked Vanguard on Feb. 9 before dropping five of its next six matches. The Mustangs would drop road dual matches against Ottawa and Arizona Christian in Phoenix before defeating Life Pacific (5-0) and losing to Vanguard (4-1)Â on Feb. 23. The Mustangs then dropped a pair to CSUN and Concordia last weekend in Irvine.
Series: Friday's opener is the eighth meeting all-time between the Matadors and Mustangs dating back to the first dual in 2020. CSUN is 7-0 all-time against The Master's (5-0 at home, 1-0 at TMU, 1-0 in Irvine), winning 5-0 in five of the previous seven meetings. Friday's meeting is the second and final scheduled match between the two teams this season.
Westcliff (1-0)Â opened its season on Feb. 9 with a 3-2 home win over Cal State LA. The Warriors have played a host of scrimmage matches in recent weeks before resuming the 2024 campaign at CSUN on Friday.
Series: The Matadors and Westcliff have met five times dating back to 2019 with CSUN holding an 3-2 edge in the all-time series. After the Matadors won the first meeting in 2019, the Warriors then won both matches in 2022 before CSUN claimed 3-2 and 4-1 wins in Northridge last season.
CSUNÂ OPENS SEASON WITH TRI-DUAL SPLIT IN IRVINE
The CSUN beach volleyball team (1-1) split its season-opening tri-dual as the Matadors swept The Master's (5-0) before falling to host Concordia Irvine, 4-1 Saturday (Feb. 24) at Orange County Great Park.
CSUN 5, THE MASTER'S 0
The Matadors opened the season against the Mustangs and would claim all five pairs in the 5-0 win. CSUN debuted four new pairs in the season opener as Gabriela Griego and MayaMay Brown won at No. 1 over Evi Bates and Annika Booker, 22-20, 22-20. Lauren Eknoian and Tasha Mae were the only CSUN pair to remain intact from the 2023 season as they picked up where they left off last season with a 21-16, 21-13 win over Faith Wada and Zoe Yates at No. 2.Â
Maleya Miles and Kinley Lindhardt picked up their first win as a pair, sweeping Breanna Brooks and Isabela Rodriguez, 21-16, 26-24. Taylor Buckley and Abbey Sweeting would also win for the first time as pair, sweeping Violet Avila and Ashlyn Unruh by the score of 21-17, 21-14. Julie Bazylevych and Tia Mendiola then made it a clean sweep for the Matadors, defeating Arianna DeRafaelle and Ellie Niehus, 21015, 22-20 in the No. 5 pair. Sophia Jarosz and Haley Coggins also made their CSUN debut, picking up a 21-10, 21-15 victory over Ellie Unruh and Emma Winter in the No. 6 exhibition pair.Â
CONCORDIA IRVINE 4, CSUN 1
In CSUN's second match, the Matadors picked up a win in the No. 5 pair as Bazylevych and Mendiola completed a 2-0 day with a three-set (21-19, 21-23, 15-13) win over Eva Prewitt and Ashleigh Souza. Eknoian and Mae went the distance in the No. 2 pair before falling to Tatum Smith and Sara Ostojic by the score of 13-21, 21-16, 15-8. The remaining matches all went to the Golden Eagles in straight sets as Kali Uhl and Kelissa Lemione swept Griego and Brown, 21-18, 21-15, Korah Norton and True McCullough defeated Miles and Lindhardt, 22-20, 21-15 in the No. 3 pair before Jordan Nichols and Kelia Giusta swept Buckley and Sweeting, 21-19, 21-18 at No. 4.
CSUN BEACH NOTES
Friday's tri-dual in Northridge is the first of six home events for the Matadors in 2024. Boasting a 63-35 record in 10 seasons on its home sand, CSUN will play at home just six times in 2024, the fewest matches at home since the COVID-shortened 2020 season (2). The Matadors also played six home matches in 2016, finishing with a 4-2 home record ... CSUN's No. 5 pair of newcomers Julia Bazylevych and Tia Mendiola are the only unbeaten Matador duo after the opening weekend. Bazylevych/Mendiola have a 4-1 sets won/lost record after sweeping The Master's and taking a 2-1 win over Concordia last weekend ... With a season-opening win playing with Taylor Buckley, Abbey Sweeting earned her 46th all-time individual win. Sweeting (46-37) now trails Victoria Rogers (47-40) by one win for sixth-place on the program wins list. Lauren Eknoian also moved into sole possession of eighth place on career wins list with 43 after picking up one win last weekend.
CSUN BEACH VOLLEYBALL HISTORY
The Matadors are 101-113 (.472) all-time in 10 seasons of beach volleyball, including a 63-35 (.643) record on their home sand. 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 and a 17-16 record in 2023. 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.
BIG WEST BEACH VOLLEYBALL
The 2024 season not only marks CSUN's 11th season of beach volleyball but its ninth season as a member of the Big West. The Matadors are 7-14 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 2023 Big West Championship, held at Queen's Beach in Hawai'i, the Matadors finished in fifth place after winning one of three matches. CSUN, seeded sixth, opened with a 3-2 loss to UC Davis before staving off elimination with a 3-2 win over Sacramento State. The Matadors then fell to Cal Poly (3-2) in an elimination match and finished the championship with a 1-2 record.
CSUN also finished fifth at both the 2021 and 2022 Big West Championships. At Cal Poly's Swanson Beach Volleyball Complex in 2022, the Matadors opened with a 5-0 loss to Cal Poly before staving off elimination with a 4-1 win over Sacramento State. CSUN then fell to UC Davis in an elimination match and finished the championship with a 1-2 record. At Rosie's Dog Beach in 2021, the championship 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.
#GoMatadors
