Thursday, April 25
Long Beach, CA
10:45 A.M.
California State University at Northridge
0
vs
5
Cal Poly
Photo by: Big West Conference
No. 5 Seed CSUN Drops a Pair to Open Big West Beach Championship
4/25/2024 5:18:00 PM | Beach Volleyball
LONG BEACH, Calif. - The CSUN beach volleyball team opened the 2024 Big West Beach Volleyball Championship on Thursday, falling to top-seed Cal Poly (5-0) and No. 4 seed UC Davis (3-2) at the KLAC Beach Volleyball Complex. Despite the two losses, the Matadors (16-20) will advance to Friday's day two of the event where they will meet No. 2 seed Long Beach State at 8:30 a.m.
CAL POLY 5, CSUN 0
The Matadors opened the championship against top-seed and No. 5 nationally-ranked Cal Poly and came up empty in all five pairs. The Mustangs' Quinn Perry and Lindsey Sparks opened the scoring on the No. 3 court, defeating Julia Bazylevych and Kinley Lindhardt, 21-15, 21-15. The second pair to go final came in the No. 4 pair as Cal Poly's Logan Walter and Piper Naess swept Taylor Buckley and Jillian Rodig, 21-14, 21-10. The Mustangs clinched the win on the No. 5 court when Abbey Reinard and Madison Nichols defeated Abbey Sweeting and Maleya Miles by the score of 21-11, 23-21.
The final two pairs were tight contests as Piper Ferch and Erin Inskeep held off Lauren Eknoian and Tasha Mae, 21-18, 21-18 in the No. 2 pair before the Matadors' Gabriela Griego and MayaMay Brown won the opening set in the No. 1 pair before dropping the final two sets to Ella Connor and Izzy Martinez in a 19-21, 21-19, 15-6 decision to conclude the dual match.
UC DAVIS 3, CSUN 2
Looking to snap a six-match skid to the Aggies, the Matadors won at No. 2 and No. 3 but fell at No. 1, No. 3, and No. 5 to drop a 3-2 decision. UC Davis would pick up the first two wins with Alicia Letvin and Mia Olen topping Buckley and Rodig at No. 4 (21-17, 21-17) and Coleen McGuire and Kylie Miller taking a tight two-set won over Griego and Brown on the No. 1 court, 22-20, 21-19.
Bazylevych and Lindhardt then got CSUN on the board with a 21-17, 24-22 victory over Morgan Coolbaugh and Lindsay Heller on the No. 3 court. Needing a win to stay alive, Sweeting and Miles took the first set on the No. 5 court before falling to Anna Braun and Kate O'steen by the score of 16-21, 21-10, 15-9 as UCD clinched the win. Eknoian and Mae finished the dual with a three-set win of their own, knocking off Tabitha Mitchell and Kimi Waller on the No. 2 court, 21-18, 12-21, 20-18.
COACH ARI HOMAYUNÂ SAID
"We had a better showing against Cal Poly this time around which is great. Heartbreaking loss to UC Davis. Again, we played better than we did at the Big West Challenge which has always been our goal, but that match slipped right through our fingers. We are in a tough conference and I love that we battle, but we have to continue to get better at the little things if we want to see more success. Stoked that we are making it to day two of the conference tournament and excited for another opportunity to play our best volleyball tomorrow morning."
UP NEXT
The Matadors will meet No. 2 seed Long Beach State in an elimination match Friday morning at 8:30 a.m. at the KLAC Beach Volleyball Complex at Long City College.
(1) CAL POLY 5, (5) CSUN 0
CAL POLY 5, CSUN 0
The Matadors opened the championship against top-seed and No. 5 nationally-ranked Cal Poly and came up empty in all five pairs. The Mustangs' Quinn Perry and Lindsey Sparks opened the scoring on the No. 3 court, defeating Julia Bazylevych and Kinley Lindhardt, 21-15, 21-15. The second pair to go final came in the No. 4 pair as Cal Poly's Logan Walter and Piper Naess swept Taylor Buckley and Jillian Rodig, 21-14, 21-10. The Mustangs clinched the win on the No. 5 court when Abbey Reinard and Madison Nichols defeated Abbey Sweeting and Maleya Miles by the score of 21-11, 23-21.
The final two pairs were tight contests as Piper Ferch and Erin Inskeep held off Lauren Eknoian and Tasha Mae, 21-18, 21-18 in the No. 2 pair before the Matadors' Gabriela Griego and MayaMay Brown won the opening set in the No. 1 pair before dropping the final two sets to Ella Connor and Izzy Martinez in a 19-21, 21-19, 15-6 decision to conclude the dual match.
UC DAVIS 3, CSUN 2
Looking to snap a six-match skid to the Aggies, the Matadors won at No. 2 and No. 3 but fell at No. 1, No. 3, and No. 5 to drop a 3-2 decision. UC Davis would pick up the first two wins with Alicia Letvin and Mia Olen topping Buckley and Rodig at No. 4 (21-17, 21-17) and Coleen McGuire and Kylie Miller taking a tight two-set won over Griego and Brown on the No. 1 court, 22-20, 21-19.
Bazylevych and Lindhardt then got CSUN on the board with a 21-17, 24-22 victory over Morgan Coolbaugh and Lindsay Heller on the No. 3 court. Needing a win to stay alive, Sweeting and Miles took the first set on the No. 5 court before falling to Anna Braun and Kate O'steen by the score of 16-21, 21-10, 15-9 as UCD clinched the win. Eknoian and Mae finished the dual with a three-set win of their own, knocking off Tabitha Mitchell and Kimi Waller on the No. 2 court, 21-18, 12-21, 20-18.
COACH ARI HOMAYUNÂ SAID
"We had a better showing against Cal Poly this time around which is great. Heartbreaking loss to UC Davis. Again, we played better than we did at the Big West Challenge which has always been our goal, but that match slipped right through our fingers. We are in a tough conference and I love that we battle, but we have to continue to get better at the little things if we want to see more success. Stoked that we are making it to day two of the conference tournament and excited for another opportunity to play our best volleyball tomorrow morning."
UP NEXT
The Matadors will meet No. 2 seed Long Beach State in an elimination match Friday morning at 8:30 a.m. at the KLAC Beach Volleyball Complex at Long City College.
(1) CAL POLY 5, (5) CSUN 0
#1. Connor/Martinez (CP) def. Griego/Brown (CSUN), 19-21, 21-19, 15-6
#2. Ferch/Inskeep (CP) def. Eknoian/Mae (CSUN), 21-18, 21-18
#3. Perry/Sparks (CP) def. Bazylevych//Lindhardt (CSUN), 21-15, 21-15
#4. Walter/Naess (CP) def. Buckley/Rodig (CSUN), 21-14, 21-10
#5. Reinard/Nichols (CP) def. Sweeting/Miles (CSUN), 21-11, 23-21
(4) UC DAVISÂ 3, (5) CSUN 2
#1. McGuire/Miller (UCD) def. Griego/Brown (CSUN), 22-20, 21-19
#2. Eknoian/Mae (CSUN) def. Mitchell/Waller (UCD), 21-18, 12-21, 20-18
#3. Bazylevych//Lindhardt (CSUN) def. Coolbaugh/Heler (UCD), 21-17, 24-22
#4. Letvin/Olen (UCD) def. Buckley/Rodig (CSUN), 21-17, 21-17
#5. Braun/O'steen (UCD) def. Sweeting/Miles (CSUN), 16-21, 21-10, 15-9
#GoMatadors
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