California State University at Northridge
LMU
CSUN Takes 2-0 Record to Battle for LA Tournament
2/27/2025 3:18:00 PM | Beach Volleyball
MATADORS THIS WEEK - BATTLE FOR LA:
Friday, Feb. 28, 2025
LMU Beach Courts - Los Angeles, Calif.
CSUN @ No. 2 LMU l 10 a.m. l Live Results
CSUN vs. No. 16 Washington l 12 p.m. l Live Results
Saturday, Mar. 1, 2025
Mapes Beach - Los Angeles, Calif.
CSUN @ No. 1 UCLA l 12 p.m. l Live Results
CSUN vs. Pepperdine l 2 p.m. l Live Results
In-game X updates:Â @CSUNBeach
FORÂ STARTERS
The CSUN beach volleyball team (2-0) hits the road for the first time in 2025 as the Matadors face a trio of ranked teams at this weekend's four-match Battle for LA hosted by LMU, UCLA, and USC.Â
CSUN opens the weekend at LMU on Friday against the No. 2-ranked Lions and 16th-ranked Washington. The Matadors take on LMU at 10 a.m. and the Huskies at noon at LMU's Beach Courts. CSUN concludes the weekend on Saturday in Westwood, taking on top-ranked UCLA at noon and Pepperdine at 2 p.m. Both matches will be played at Mapes Beach on the UCLA campus.
Â
FOLLOW YOUR MATADORS ONLINE
All four CSUN matches at the Battle for LA will have live stats. 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 X feed (@GoMatadors) and the beach volleyball-specific feed (@CSUNBeach) for news and notes throughout the week as well as updates of matches in progress.
Â
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
No. 2 LMU (5-1) opened the season winning five of six matches at the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic in Honolulu last weekend. The Lions opened with a 3-2 win over No. 5 Stanford in a 3 to 2 victory before knocking off top-ranked USC, 4-1.
CSUN-LMU Series History: Friday's match is the 15th meeting all time between the Matadors and Lions. LMU has claimed 13 pf the previous 14 duals between the two teams, CSUN's lone win coming in 2016 when then Matadors won 3-2 in Northridge.
No. 16 Washington (2-2) opens the Battle for LA on Friday against CSUN before taking on No. 2 LMU. On Saturday, Washington will head to USC's Merle Norman Stadium to meet No. 3 USC and No. 8 Long Beach State. The matchup with USC marks Washington's first conference match in the inaugural MPSF season. Washington opened the season last weekend in Tampa, Fla., finishing 2-2 in matches against FAU, Tampa, Georgia State, and FIU. The win over Georgia State marked the Huskies' first victory over a ranked opponent this season.
CSUN-UWÂ Series History:Â Friday's match is the first ever match between the Matadors and Huskies.
No. 1 UCLA (5-1) opens Battle for LA play on Friday against No. 8 Long Beach State and No. 6 Cal Poly. The Bruins will take on Pepperdine and the Matadors on Saturday. UCLA's Peri Brennan and Natalie Myszkowski were named the MPSF/Molten Beach Pair of the Week after helping the Bruins finish 5-1 to win the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic in Honolulu last weekend. The No. 2 pair also went 5-1 in the tournament, including the clinching point of the Bruins' win over No. 2 TCU in straight sets, 21-17, 29-27. They also posted straight-set wins over No. 12 Hawai'i (21-14, 21-8), No. 7 LMU (23-21, 21-16), and No. 1 USC (21-14, 23-21), and had a three-set victory over No. 11 Arizona State (21-9, 19-21, 15-13).
CSUN-UCLA Series History: The Matadors and Bruins have met five times dating back to 2014 with UCLA winning all five duals. The Matadors fell 3-2 in the first meeting in 2013 before falling 4-1 in Northridge in 2015 to open the CSUN Beach Volleyball Complex.
Pepperdine (1-3) will take on No. 3 USC and top-ranked UCLA on Friday at Merle Norman Stadium. The Waves will also face off against Concordia and CSUN on Saturday at UCLA's Mapes Beach. Pepperdine swept Vanguard at home to open the season, before falling to Cal State Bakersfield (3-2), No. 9 California (5-0), and No. 10 Long Beach State (4-1).
CSUN-PEPP Series History:Â Saturday's match is the sixth meeting between the Matadors and Waves with Pepperdine leading 5-0. The Waves have won four of the duals in 5-0 fashion while winning 4-1 in 2019 in Malibu.
Â
MATADOR QUICK SETS
The Matadors won all 22 sets in season opening tri-dual over Hope International and Cal State LA ... Four of the Matador pairs in the season opening tri-dual were first-time matchups with Tasha Mae and Kinley Lindhardt playing in the No. 1 pair, Haley Cogginsand Dylan Hall playing at No. 2, Tia Mediola and Ainsley Patrick playing at No. 3, and Hannah Heflin and Morgan Gillinger playing at No. 5. Maleya Miles and Layla Cederlind were the lone pair that had previously played together, playing six times last season finishing 0-4 at No. 3 and 0-2 at No. 4 … Elena Gonzalez-Hughes also made her CSUN debut against Hope Internationa, winning the No. 6 exhibition match along with Julia Bazylevych.
Â
CSUN OPENS 2025 SEASON WITH HOME TRI-DUAL SWEEP
The CSUN beach volleyball team (2-0) opened the 2025 season in dominating fashion, taking all 22 sets in 5-0 wins over Hope International and Cal State LA Saturday afternoon at the CSUN Beach Volleyball Complex.
CSUN 5, HOPE INTERNATIONAL 0
The Matadors kicked off the season with a 5-0 sweep over the Royals. In the first flight, CSUN opened the scoring in the No. 4 pair as Maleya Miles and Layla Cederlind surrendered just 11 points in defeating Carmelina Enfante and Kat Schwab, 21-8, 21-3. Haley Coggins and Dylan Hall made it 2-0 Matadors with a 21-12, 21-7 win over Rachael Street and Maci Hendry in the No. 2 pair. The opening flight wrapped up with a 21-13, 21-14 CSUN win as Elena Gonzalez-Hughes and Julia Bazylevych swept Dabi Sanchez and Maleia Petterez in the exhibition pair.
CSUN clinched its first win of the season when the No. 3 pair went final as Tia Mendiola and Ainsley Patrick made quick work of Brandi Ramirez and Emma Pearson, 21-8, 21-6. Tasha Mae and Kinley Lindhardt paired up for the first time and swept Addie Mathias and Sabrina Galassi, 21-13, 21-12 in the No. 1 match on center court. Hannah Heflin and Morgan Gillinger completed the scoring in the No. 5 pair, sweeping Phoebe Serby and Naomi Ruiz, 25-23, 21-12. In all five CSUN players made their debut against HIU, while all six Matador pairs were first-time matchups.
CSUN 5, CAL STATE LAÂ 0
After Cal State LA topped HIU, 3-2 in the middle dual, the Matadors lined up the same five pairs, coming away with their second 5-0 victory.
CSUN did not drop a set against the Golden Eagles in its second 5-0 win of the day. Coggins and Hall put the Matadors up 1-0 with a 21-9, 21-12 win over Jameson Sanders and Samarah DaCoud at No. 2. MIles and Cederlind completed the first flight with a 21-16, 21-10 win over Rebecca Topete and Rebeca Marquez on the No. 4 court.
Heflin and Gillinger completed an unblemished CSUN debut with a 21-12, 21-11 victory over Arielle Chandler and Karina Talavera at No. 5, which clinched the Matadors' second win of the day. Mendiola and Patrick gave up just 20 total points in a 21-9, 21-11 win over Tehya Chadwick and Zuhal Cetin in the No. 3 pair before Mae and Lindhardt capped the day with a 21-13, 21-14 win over Emily Elliott and Juliana Speiski on center court.
The Matadors are 118-133 (.470) all-time in their 12th season of beach volleyball, including a 73-37 (.664) record on their home sand. After setting a program record for single-season wins with 17 in 2018, the Matadors matched that 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 season mark in both 2019 (16-12) and last year (16-21).
Head coach Ari Homayun has led the Matadors to 33 wins in her two seasons, finishing 17-16 in 2023 and 16-21 in 2024. She opens the 2025 season needing just 16 wins to surpass Noelle Rooke (2018-21) as the program leader in coaching wins.
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 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 2025 season marks CSUN's 12th season of beach volleyball but also its 10th season as a member of the Big West. The Matadors are 7-17 all-time in the Big West Beach Volleyball Championship since the inaugural championship in 2016. The postseason championship was not held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
At last season's conference championship at KLAC Beach Complex in Long Beach, CSUN fell to top-seeded Cal Poly (5-0), No. 4-seed UC Davis (3-2), and No. 2-seed Long Beach State (5-0).
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
