California State University at Northridge
UC Davis
CSUN Eyes Postseason Berth in Road Matches at UC Davis, UC Riverside
11/19/2025 1:42:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
CSUNÂ THIS WEEK:
MATCH #28Â (BIG WESTÂ #17)
CSUN Matadors (16-11, 9-7) @ UC Davis Aggies (18-6, 14-2)
Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025Â - 6:00 p.m. PT
University Credit Union Center - Davis, Calif.
ESPN+Â //Â Live Stats
MATCH #29Â (BIG WESTÂ #18)
CSUNÂ Matadors @ UC Riverside Highlanders
Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025 - 4:00 p.m. PT
SRCÂ Arena - Riverside, Calif.
ESPN+Â //Â Live Stats
In-game X updates:Â @CSUNWVB
CSUN WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL MEDIA NOTES
FORÂ STARTERS
The CSUN Women's Volleyball team (16-11, 9-7 Big West) has its collective eye on the postseason as the Matadors conclude the regular season this week, traveling to UC Davis on Thursday and UC Riverside on Saturday. The Matadors, tied for fifth in the Big West standings at 7-7, look to solidify a berth in the Outrigger Big West Championship next week in Long Beach.
CSUN capped the 2025 home season last week, defeating UC Irvine in a reverse sweep before defeating Cal State Fullerton in straight sets on Senior Night.
FOLLOW YOUR MATADORS
Both matches this week will stream live on ESPN+ and both matches will have live stats links available at GoMatadors.com. For CSUN home matches, Darren Preston returns to call women's volleyball in 2025 and will be joined by men's volleyball assistant coach Ryan Mason for select matches.
Fans can follow CSUN Matador women's volleyball online at the official home of CSUN athletics, www.GoMatadors.com. Fans are also encouraged to check the CSUN Athletics Department's official X feed (@GoMatadors) and the volleyball-specific feed (@CSUNWVB) for news and notes throughout the week, as well as updates of matches in progress.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
UC Davis (18-6, 14-2 Big West) set a new program record with its 14th Big West wins following Saturday's a four-set victory at UC San Diego. The Aggies enter the final week of conference play sitting in the top spot of the Big West. Head coach and former CSUN Men's Volleyball assistant coach Dan Conners earned his 169th career win, tying him for the most in program history with Cal Aggie Hall of Famer Kathy DeYoung.
Series: Thursday's match is the 44th meeting all-time between CSUN and UC Davis, with the Matadors holding a slim 22-21 lead in the all-time series. UC Davis won both meetings in 2025 and the first meeting this season (3-0 in Northridge) and has won six straight in the series dating back to the last Matador win in 2022 (3-2 in Northridge). CSUN is 9-11 all-time against UCD in 20 matches in Davis.
UC Riverside (8-18, 4-12 Big West) wraps up the season this weekend against Cal State Bakersfield and CSUN. The Highlanders completed a four-match road trip with a four-set victory at UC San Diego last Friday. Senior libero Jessica Dean became just the sixth Highlander in history to reach 1,400 digs over the weekend.Â
Series: Saturday's match is the 90th meeting all-time between the Matadors and Highlanders, with CSUN leading the all-time series 66-23. The Matadors claimed this season's first meeting (3-0) in Northridge and have now won four straight and nine of the last 11 matches in the series. CSUN is 25-10 all-time in matches played in Riverside.
POSTSEASON POSSIBILITIES
Heading into the final week of the regular season, the Matadors currently hold sole possession of fifth place in the Big West standings at 9-7. CSUN opens the week with a two-game lead over both UC Irvine (7-9) and Hawai'i (7-9) with two matches remaining. With one win this week, the Matadors would clinch the No. 5 seed in the Outrigger Big West Women's Volleyball Championship (Nov. 26-29 in Long Beach). Should CSUN drop both matches this week and UCI and Hawai'i win their final two matches this week, a three-way tie for the final two spots (No. 5 and No. 6 seeds) would occur.
Only the top six teams in the standings earn a postseason berth. UC Davis (14-2), Cal Poly (13-3), UC Santa Barbara (12-4), and Long Beach State (12-4) have already clinched a berth in the Outrigger Big West Championship. CSUN is seeking its first-ever berth in The Big West Championship, now in its third year of existence.Â
SENTES MOVES INTO 10TH IN CAREER DIGS
With 31 digs in two matches last week, junior libero Paige Sentes increased her career digs total to 1,146. Sentes, averaging 3.40 digs per set over 337 career sets, moved past Dawn Krenik earlier this season into 10th place on the CSUN career digs top 10 list. With her 10th dig in a 13-dig performance at UC Irvine on Oct. 11, Sentes became the 12th CSUN player to reach 1,000 digs in her career.
Cindy Ortiz (2009-12) holds the all-time CSUN and rally scoring era records with 1,456 digs, while Alexis Cormier (1998-01) holds the sideout scoring era record with 1,194 career digs. Sentes, a two-time Big West Defensive Player of the Week in 2025, leads the Matadors with 444 digs this season while averaging 4.11 digs per set, which ranks fifth in the conference. Sentes is one of only four players in the Big West with over 400 digs this season.Â
CSUN QUICK SETS
CSUN closed the home season with wins over UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton, giving the Matadors a 9-4 record on their home court, the best home record for a CSUN team since 2004 (9-4). The Matadors also won nine home matches in 2003, finishing with a 9-5 home record ... With nine Big West wins, CSUN already has its most conference wins since finishing 10-6 in 2014 ... With their 15th win of the season, the Matadors also clinched their first winning record in the regular season since 2014 ... CSUN set a season-high with 92 team digs against UC Irvine, the most since 2021, when the Matadors had 97 in four sets at Cal State Fullerton ... CSUN honored its four seniors (Leah Miller, Iye Okolo, Autumn Rojelio, Amaris Smith) in a prematch ceremony before Saturday's win over Cal State Fullerton.
CSUN HEAD COACH AQUILES MONTOYAÂ
Aquiles Montoya opens his second season as head coach of the CSUN Women's Volleyball team in 2025. In his first season, Montoya led the Matadors to a 10-19 overall record, as CSUN reached double figures in wins for the first time since 2019. With five Big West wins, Montoya led CSUN to its highest conference win total in three seasons. He was named the ninth head coach of the CSUN women's volleyball program on Apr. 10, 2024. Montoya arrived at CSUN after spending the past four seasons as associate head coach and director of recruiting at Portland State. Portland State made consecutive postseason appearances in 2021 and 2022, qualifying for the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC). The Vikings won their first-round match in 2021, giving Portland State its first win at a national postseason tournament in Division I program history. The Vikings' rise in the Big Sky Conference coincided with Montoya's tenure as an assistant and associate head coach under Portland State head coach Michael Seeman. The Vikings posted winning seasons, both overall and in conference play, in each of Montoya's last three seasons while reaching the Big Sky championship match in 2022, their first appearance since 2013. Prior to Portland State, Montoya spent the previous three seasons as the lead assistant of the Pacific Boxers' varsity team.
LOOKING AHEAD
Following Saturday's match at UC Riverside, the Matadors will gear up for a potential Outrigger Big West Women's Volleyball Championship first-round match on Wednesday at the Walter Pyramid on the Long Beach State campus.
#GoMatadors
