California State University at Northridge
Tulane
Beach Volleyball Hosts Tulane & CSUB in Wednesday Tri-Dual
3/26/2024 12:49:00 PM | Beach Volleyball
MATADORS THIS WEEK:
Wednesday, Mar. 27, 2024
CSUN Beach Volleyball Complex - Northridge, Calif.
Tulane @Â CSUNÂ - 9Â a.m.
Cal State Bakersfield @ CSUNÂ - 1Â p.m.
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNBeach
FORÂ STARTERS
After playing eight matches last week, the CSUN beach volleyball team (12-11) will play just a one tri-dual on Wednesday, hosting Tulane and Cal State Bakersfield. The Matadors will take on Tulane at 9 a.m., before hosting the Roadrunners at 1 p.m.
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
Tulane (15-7) has won seven of its last 10 heading to Northridge on Wednesday. The Green Wave split four matches at the PCH Open last weekend in Malibu, defeating Colorado Mesa (4-1) and Pepperdine (5-0) while falling twice to No. 10 LMU (5-0, 4-1).
Series:Â Wednesday's match is the first-ever meeting between CSUN and Tulane.
Cal State Bakersfield (10-12) dropped five of six matches at last weekend's Big West Challenge. The Roadrunners topped Sacramento State (3-2) before falling to Long Beach State (5-0), the Matadors (3-2), Cal Poly (4-1), UC Davis (3-2), and Hawai'i (4-1).Â
Series:Â Wednesday's match is the fourth this season between CSUN and Bakersfield with the Matadors winning two of the first three. Heading into 2024, the two teams had split 26 previous matches.
CSUNÂ FINISHES 3-5 LAST WEEK, INCLUDING 2-4 AT BIG WEST CHALLENGE
The Matadors opened last week with a home split against Colorado Mesa on Wednesday. CSUN then traveled to the Sacramento area for the 2024 Big West Challenge, where the Matadors finished 1-2 each day. After dropping its first two matches of the opening day, CSUN bounced back to defeat Cal State Bakersfield to cap day one of the 2024 Big West Challenge Friday at the UC Davis Beach Volleyball Courts. In Friday's opener against UC Davis, the Matadors posted a dominating win in the No. 2 pair but dropped the other four pairs and fell to the Aggies for sixth consecutive time. Lauren Eknoian and Tasha Mae made quick work of Mia Olen and Sam Lazenby, 21-9, 21-12 while two of the other four pairs went three sets, all going to UC Davis. Against Hawai'i, Eknoian and Mae nearly pulled out a win in the No. 2 pair, falling in three sets to Kaylee Glagau and Julia Thelle, 21-16, 19-21, 15-6. The Matadors were blanked by the No. 12 BeachBows in the other four pairs as UH remained undefeated (10-0) all-time against the Matadors and have yet to drop a single point in the series. Looking to salvage the finale of a three-match day, CSUN pulled out a 3-2 win over the Roadrunners for its second win in three tries against CSUB this season. Eknoian and Mae completed a 2-1 day with a 23-21, 21-16 won over Megan Gilbert and Olivia Silacci-Jense. Griego and Brown would win for the first time on the day, sweeping Katey Milne and Isabella Almeida, 21-13, 21-11 in the No. 1 pair. Bazylevych and Lindhardt then won for the tirst time as a pair, sweeping Ava Palm and Pearl Moore at the 4's, 21-16, 21-15.
CSUN defeated Sacramento State to finish 1-2 for the second straight day as the Matadors' time at the 2024 Big West Challenge concluded Saturday at both Hornet Beach and the UC Davis Beach Volleyball Courts. The Matadors held off the Hornets, 3-2 while dropping 5-0 decisions to No. 7 Long Beach and No. 9 Cal Poly on Saturday.Â
CSUN BEACH VOLLEYBALL HISTORY
The Matadors are 112-123 (.477) all-time in 10 seasons of beach volleyball, including a 67-37 (.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
