California State University Northridge Athletics
Friday, April 26
Davis, Calif.
12:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
vs
#15 UC San Diego
Photo by: Chuck Marvel
#17 CSUN Opens Big West Championships Against #15 UC San Diego
4/24/2024 2:25:00 PM | Women's Water Polo
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---No. 17 CSUN Water Polo opens the 2024 Big West Championship on Friday with a quarterfinal match against No. 15 UC San Diego at noon. The Big West Championship will be held at Schaal Aquatics Center in Davis, Calif. All tournament matches will be broadcast on ESPN+.
FOR STARTERS
CSUN enters The Big West Championships as the No. 5 seed while the Tritons hold the No. 4 seed. The winner of CSUN and UCSD will take on the winner of top-seeded Hawai'i and eighth-seeded Cal State Fullerton in a semifinal match at noon on Saturday.
The Matadors wrapped up the regular season with an 18-14 overall record and 2-5 Big West record. CSUN's 18 wins this season are the most for the program since 2014 while its conference win total is the most since the 2015 campaign. After an 0-4 start to Big West play, CSUN won two of its final three matches, both of which against top-15 ranked teams in UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis.
CSUN seeks its first win in the conference tournament (non-consolation games) since the 2014 season when the Matadors defeated Hawai'i in a semifinal match, 6-5. The team had won consolation games from 2015 to 2017 before the Big West eliminated that tournament format in 2020.
MOVING UP THE POLLS
CSUN moved up two spots in this week's CWPA top-25 national poll to a season-best No. 17. The ranking is the highest for the program since the 2015 season while it marked the second-straight week CSUN has been ranked inside the top-20. CSUN has continuously been ranked in the national top-25 each week since Feb. 16, 2022.
LAST TIME OUT
CSUN closed the regular season on April 13 with a 7-6 upset win over then-ranked No. 14 UC Davis on the road. The victory over the Aggies was CSUN's first since May 1, 2016, while the Matadors also notched their first win in Davis since March 30, 2014. Anna Pal led the way with four goals including a go-ahead goal with three minutes left in the fourth period and Dorottya Telek added two goals in the win. Goalkeeper Meghan Lopez came up big in front of the cage, registering 12 saves.
PAL NAMED BIG WEST PLAYER OF THE WEEK
After leading CSUN to victory at UC Davis, junior Anna Pal earned her first career Big West Player of the Week award on April 17. She would hit the back of the net four times while registering an assist and a steal. Three of her four goals came in the first half to help CSUN stay within striking distance before she hit a go-ahead goal with three minutes left that gave the Matadors the lead for good. Pal is the second Matador to win the Big West Player of the Week award this season, joining Telek who received the nod on March 3.
TOP PERFORMERS
Dorottya Telek led The Big West during the regular year with 89 goals followed by Anna Pal who scored a career-high 64 goals to rank third-best in the conference. Pal's 59 assists lead The Big West while she ranks second in points at 123 with Telek a close third at 118. Helena Sandhagen is also ranked in the top-10 in the conference in goals with 43 to rank ninth. Shelby Hovanesian is third on the team in points with 76 after tallying 32 goals and 44 assists in the regular season. In front of the cage, Meghan Lopez is ranked second in The Big West with 214 saves to go with a 10.25 GAA.
ABOUT UC SAN DIEGO
The Tritons finished the regular season at 17-11 overall with a 4-3 Big West mark. Earlier in the season, UCSD notched a pair of top-10 wins over then seventh-ranked UC Irvine and eighth-ranked Princeton. Caroline Christl has a team-high 61 goals on the season, good enough for fourth-best in The Big West. Other top scorers on the team include Kendall Thomas (46 goals), Lucia Doak (33 goals) and Courtney Okumura (32 goals). In goal, Lexi Stahl sports 151 saves to lead the team while she holds an 8.63 goals-against-average.
Series History: UC San Diego leads CSUN 15-12 in the all-time series with victories in 10 consecutive matches. UCSD defeated CSUN earlier this season in La Jolla by a 16-7 score. The Matadors seek their first win over the Tritons since winning 8-4 on March 12, 2015.
#GoMatadors
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FOR STARTERS
CSUN enters The Big West Championships as the No. 5 seed while the Tritons hold the No. 4 seed. The winner of CSUN and UCSD will take on the winner of top-seeded Hawai'i and eighth-seeded Cal State Fullerton in a semifinal match at noon on Saturday.
The Matadors wrapped up the regular season with an 18-14 overall record and 2-5 Big West record. CSUN's 18 wins this season are the most for the program since 2014 while its conference win total is the most since the 2015 campaign. After an 0-4 start to Big West play, CSUN won two of its final three matches, both of which against top-15 ranked teams in UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis.
CSUN seeks its first win in the conference tournament (non-consolation games) since the 2014 season when the Matadors defeated Hawai'i in a semifinal match, 6-5. The team had won consolation games from 2015 to 2017 before the Big West eliminated that tournament format in 2020.
MOVING UP THE POLLS
CSUN moved up two spots in this week's CWPA top-25 national poll to a season-best No. 17. The ranking is the highest for the program since the 2015 season while it marked the second-straight week CSUN has been ranked inside the top-20. CSUN has continuously been ranked in the national top-25 each week since Feb. 16, 2022.
LAST TIME OUT
CSUN closed the regular season on April 13 with a 7-6 upset win over then-ranked No. 14 UC Davis on the road. The victory over the Aggies was CSUN's first since May 1, 2016, while the Matadors also notched their first win in Davis since March 30, 2014. Anna Pal led the way with four goals including a go-ahead goal with three minutes left in the fourth period and Dorottya Telek added two goals in the win. Goalkeeper Meghan Lopez came up big in front of the cage, registering 12 saves.
PAL NAMED BIG WEST PLAYER OF THE WEEK
After leading CSUN to victory at UC Davis, junior Anna Pal earned her first career Big West Player of the Week award on April 17. She would hit the back of the net four times while registering an assist and a steal. Three of her four goals came in the first half to help CSUN stay within striking distance before she hit a go-ahead goal with three minutes left that gave the Matadors the lead for good. Pal is the second Matador to win the Big West Player of the Week award this season, joining Telek who received the nod on March 3.
TOP PERFORMERS
Dorottya Telek led The Big West during the regular year with 89 goals followed by Anna Pal who scored a career-high 64 goals to rank third-best in the conference. Pal's 59 assists lead The Big West while she ranks second in points at 123 with Telek a close third at 118. Helena Sandhagen is also ranked in the top-10 in the conference in goals with 43 to rank ninth. Shelby Hovanesian is third on the team in points with 76 after tallying 32 goals and 44 assists in the regular season. In front of the cage, Meghan Lopez is ranked second in The Big West with 214 saves to go with a 10.25 GAA.
ABOUT UC SAN DIEGO
The Tritons finished the regular season at 17-11 overall with a 4-3 Big West mark. Earlier in the season, UCSD notched a pair of top-10 wins over then seventh-ranked UC Irvine and eighth-ranked Princeton. Caroline Christl has a team-high 61 goals on the season, good enough for fourth-best in The Big West. Other top scorers on the team include Kendall Thomas (46 goals), Lucia Doak (33 goals) and Courtney Okumura (32 goals). In goal, Lexi Stahl sports 151 saves to lead the team while she holds an 8.63 goals-against-average.
Series History: UC San Diego leads CSUN 15-12 in the all-time series with victories in 10 consecutive matches. UCSD defeated CSUN earlier this season in La Jolla by a 16-7 score. The Matadors seek their first win over the Tritons since winning 8-4 on March 12, 2015.
#GoMatadors
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Players Mentioned
Attacker
/ Women's Water Polo
Goalkeeper
/ Women's Water Polo
Attacker
/ Women's Water Polo
Center
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