California State University at Northridge
Colorado Mesa
Beach Volleyball Hosts Colorado Mesa to Open 8-Match Week
3/19/2024 4:20:00 PM | Beach Volleyball
MATADORS THIS WEEK:
Wednesday, Mar. 20, 2024
CSUN Beach Volleyball Complex - Northridge, Calif.
Colorado Mesa @Â CSUNÂ - 10Â a.m.
Colorado Mesa @ CSUNÂ - 12Â p.m.
Friday, Mar. 22, 2024
UC Davis Beach Volleyball Courts - Davis, Calif.
CSUN @ UC Davis - 10 a.m.
CSUNÂ vs. Hawai'i - 12:30 p.m.
CSUN vs. Cal State Bakersfield - 5 p.m.
Saturday, Mar. 23, 2024
Hornet Beach - Sacramento, Calif.
CSUNÂ vs. Long Beach State - 9Â a.m.
CSUN @ Sacramento State - 11 a.m.
UC Davis Beach Volleyball Courts - Davis, Calif.
CSUNÂ vs. Cal Poly - 3Â p.m.
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNBeach
FORÂ STARTERS
CSUN beach volleyball (9-6) opens an eight-match week on Wednesday as the Matadors host Colorado Mesa for a pair of dual matches at 10 a.m. and noon. CSUN then heads north to the Sacramento area to compete at the 2024 Big West Challenge on Friday and Saturday. The Matadors will play three matches on Friday at UC Davis (UC Davis, No. 12 Hawai'i, Cal State Bakersfield) before playing twice on Saturday at Sacramento State (No. 7 Long Beach State, Sac State). CSUN closes the weekend against No. 9 Cal Poly back at UC Davis Saturday at 3 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
Colorado Mesa (11-3) has won seven straight duals heading to Northridge on Wednesday. The Mavericks will play a total of six matches in a span of four days, five of which will come against NCAA Division I institutions. After a pair against the Matadors on Wednesday, CMU will take on Pepperdine and Concordia Irvine at Zuma Beach in Malibu on Friday before traveling to Loyola Marymount on Saturday to meet No. 10 LMU and Tulane in the Pacific Coast Highway Invite.
Series: The two dual matches on Wednesday mark the 14th and 15th matches all-time between CSUN and Colorado Mesa dating back to 2016. The Matadors won the first five duals (2016-2021) before the Mavericks claimed two of the last three meetings, including a 3-2 win in Northridge last season.
Big West Challenge - The six Big West foes CSUN will play at this weekend's event at Sacramento State and UC Davis are a combined 60-34 on the season. No. 7 Long Beach State and No. 9 Cal Poly are both 14-2 this season and have won nine and 11 straight matches respectively. UC Davis is 9-7, Cal State Bakersfield is 9-7, and No. 12 Hawai'i is 9-8. Sac State is the only Big West school with a sub-.500 record at 5-8. Â
CSUNÂ FINISHES 2-2Â IN FOUR DUALS IN LONG BEACH
The Matadors opened the Long Beach State Tournament last Friday with wins over Nebraska and Texas on Friday at the KLAC Beach Volleyball Complex. CSUN defeated the Huskers, 3-2 in the morning dual before topping the Longhorns later in the day by the identical 3-2 score. In just the fourth meeting between the Matadors and Huskers, CSUN won the first three pairs to clinch the win, before Nebraska claimed the final two pairs. Then in a see-saw battle in match two, CSUN and Texas traded wins to open the dual. Julia Bazylevych and Jillian Rodig made it 2-1 CSUN with a 21-13, 23-21 win in the 5's, before Eknoian and Mae clinched the Matadors' ninth win of the season after sweeping Devin Kahahawai and Katie Hashman in the No. 2 pair, 21-19, 21-19. The Longhorns would claim the final pair as Presley Wright and Hannah Ogden went the distance to defeat Miles and Lindhardt in the No. 3 pair, 22-20, 21-23, 15-8. Â
On Saturday, CSUN played its first two nationally-ranked teams this season. In just the third ever meeting between the Matadors are Arizona State, the 11th-ranked Sun Devils did not drop a set in sweeping all five pairs. CSUN then met No. 7 Long Beach State in the finale and the Matadors forced a three-set decision in the No. 5 pair but dropped 2-0 decisions in the other four pairs.
MATADOR BEACH NOTES
At 9-6, CSUN has matched its best start to a season since 2018. CSUN also began the 2023 season with nine wins in its first 15 duals which is the best mark since the 2018 CSUN squad was 10-5 through 15 matches ... Gabriela Griego and MayaMay Brown have a team-best 9-6 mark through 15 matches, all at the No. 1 spot. Lauren Eknoian and Tasha Mae are 7-7 at No. 2 while Abbey Sweeting and Taylor Buckley are 6-8, playing at No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5 ... Three CSUN players have nine individual wins; Griego, Brown, and Julia Bazylevych. Bazylevych is a team-best 9-5, followed by both Griego and Brown who are 6-6. Eknoian and Mae are both 8-7, while seven other Matadors have a record over .500 on the season.Â
CSUN BEACH VOLLEYBALL HISTORY
The Matadors are 109-118 (.480) all-time in 10 seasons of beach volleyball, including a 66-36 (.647) record on their home sand. After setting a program record for most wins in one season with 17 in 2018, the Matadors matched that win 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
