California State University at Northridge
Mercer University
Busy Week of Tri-Duals for Beach Volleyball
3/4/2025 1:27:00 PM | Beach Volleyball
MATADORS THIS WEEK:
Wednesday, Mar. 5, 2025
CSUN Beach Volleyball Complex - Northridge, Calif.
Mercer @Â CSUNÂ - 10Â a.m.
Mercer vs. Cal State Bakersfield - 12 p.m.
Cal State Bakersfield @ CSUN - 2 p.m.
Friday, Mar. 7, 2025
CSUN Beach Volleyball Complex - Northridge, Calif.
Concordia @ CSUNÂ - 9Â a.m.
Concordia vs. Utah - 11 a.m.
Utah @ CSUNÂ - 1Â p.m.
Saturday, Mar. 8, 2025
CSUN Beach Volleyball Complex - Northridge, Calif.
Utah @ CSUNÂ - 9Â a.m.
Utah vs. Santa Clara - 11 a.m.
Santa Clara @ CSUNÂ - 1Â p.m.
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNBeach
FORÂ STARTERS
CSUN beach volleyball (2-4) opens a six-match week on Wednesday as the Matadors host Mercer and Cal State Bakersfield in a tri-dual beginning at 10 a.m. CSUN will also host tri-duals on Friday and Saturday as Concordia and Utah visit on Friday, and Utah and Santa Clara filling out Saturday's schedule.Â
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
Mercer (6-2)Â has won six of its last seven matches after opening the season with a 5-0 loss to No. 20 Stetson. Last weekend, the Bears finished 3-1 at the UNF Duuuval Duals in Jacksonville, Fla. Mercer fell to No. 19 North Florida (3-2) before defeating Chattanooga (4-1), Jacksonville (3-2), and Saint Leo (4-1).
Series:Â Wednesday's dual match is the first-ever meeting between the Matadors and Bears.
Cal State Bakersfield (2-4) travels to Northridge for two matches before returning home for the  Bakersfield Beach Bash on Saturday. The Runners split two matches in Malibu to open the season, defeating Pepperdine (3-2) before falling to No. 9 California (5-0). Last weekend, CSUB traveled to Tallahassee, Fla. for the Seminole Beach Bash, falling twice to Houston Christian (3-2), No. 7 Florida State (5-0), and knocking off No. 15 Georgia State (3-2).
Series: Wednesday's dual match is the 33rd meeting all time between CSUN and Cal State Bakersfield dating back to 2014. The Matadors have a slim 17-15 lead in the series but the Runners have claimed eight of the last 12 duals between the two teams.
Utah (6-2) traveled to the FIU Weekend in Miami, Fla. last weekend, dropping 4-1 decisions to No. 12 FAU and No. 17 FIU. On Saturday, Utah got back in the win column with wins over Southern Miss (5-0) and Palm Beach Atlantic (4-1). The Utes opened the season with four wins at UC Davis (Feb. 22-23), defeating the Aggies (4-1), San Jose State twice (5-0, 4-1) and Santa Clara (3-2).
Series: The matches on Friday and Saturday are just the second and third meetings all-time between CSUN and Utah. The Matadors swept the Utes, 5-0 in the only previous meeting in Northridge in 2023.
Concordia (4-4)Â took three of four at the season-opening Green Wave Invitational in New Orleans before dropping three of four at the Battle for LA last weekend. The Golden Eagles split two matches at USC's Merle Norman Stadium, falling 5-0 to No. 3 USC before defeating Pepperdine, 4-1. Concordia closed the event on Saturday with 5-0 losses to No. 2 LMU and No. 5 Cal Poly at Loyola Marymount.
Series:Â Friday's dual is the 16th meeting between CSUN and Concordia. The Matadors lead 8-7 in the series dating back to 2016. The Golden Eagles have won four straight and five of the last six meetings between the two teams.
Santa Clara (4-4)Â split a pair of matches on Saturday on the final day of the Battle of the Bay tournament. After a decisive 5-0 victory over Pacific, the Broncos fell over the No. 5 ranked Cardinal by the same score. A day earlier, the Broncos picked up two decisive victories Friday at Spartan Beach over USF and the hosting Spartans.
Series:Â Saturday's match is the third meeting all time between CSUN and Santa Clara. The Broncos claimed the first meeting in 2016, before CSUN won 5-0 in 2020 in Santa Cruz.
CSUNÂ FACES STIFF COMPETITION AT BATTLE FOR LAÂ
The CSUN beach volleyball team competed at the Battle for LA for the first time last weekend, facing three ranked teams in four matches.
NO. 2 LMUÂ 5, CSUN 0
In their first road dual match of the season. the Matadors came up short in all five pairs to the No. 2-ranked Lions. LMU opened the scoring on the No. 2 court, as Abbey Thorup and Lisa Luini won a tight opening set over Haley Coggins and Dylan Hall, 22-20, before closing out a 21-12 win. On the No. 4 court, Isabelle Reffel and Magdalena Rabitsch also pulled out a 24-22, 21-9 win over Maleya Miles and Layla Cederlind to put the Lions up 2-0. The Lions' No. 5 pair of Jaeya Brach and Gi Poletti Corrales clinched the dual win with a 21-10, 21-11 Hannah Heflin and Morgan Gillinger. LMU's Michelle Shaffer and Vilhelmina Prithi then swept Tasha Mae and Kinley Lindhardt (21-14, 21-11) at No. 1 and Chloe Hooker and Liv Johnson defeated Tia Mendiola and Ainsley Patrick on the No. 3 court (21-13, 22-20) to close out the 5-0 win.Â
NO. 16 WASHINGTON 3, CSUN 2
The Matadors and No. 16 Huskies went toe-to-toe in the noon match as CSUN looked to spring the upset. Washington picked up the opening point when Katarina Pantovic and Lauren Wilcock topped Coggins and Hall, 21-11, 21-11. The Huskies opened up a 2-0 lead when Emma Hohenauer and Sarah Wilcock held off Miles and Cederlind in three sets in the No. 4 pair by the score of 14-21, 21-13, 15-8. Mae and Lindhardt pulled CSUN within 2-1 with a 22-20, 21-18 on the No. 1 court over Teila Allen and Jade Sadeiko. Washington's Hannah Doyle and Alina Urzua then clinched the win on the No. 5 court with a 21-9, 21-18 over Heflin and Gillinger before Mendiola and Patrick came back from one-set down to claim the final two sets (17-21, 22-20, 15-13) over Brooke Balue and Niki Egan to make the final 3-2.
NO. 1Â UCLA 5, CSUN 0
The Matadors opened the day against the top-ranked team in the latest AVCA Collegiate Beach poll. UCLA would claim all five scoring pairs beginning with the No. 2's as Peri Brennan and Natalie Myszkowski swept Tia Mendiola and Ainsley Patrick, 21-7, 21-11. Hannah Fleming and Tessa Van Winkle made it 2-0 Bruins with a 21-18, 21-8 win over Maleya Miles and Layla Cederlind on the No. 4 court. UCLA then clinched the dual win in the No. 5 pair when Reagan Hope and Adelina Okazaki swept Hannah Heflin and Morgan Gillinger, 21-7, 21-17. The final two pairs also went to the hosts as Sally Perez and Maggie Boyd earned a 21-10, 21-9 win over Tasha Mae and Kinley Lindhardt at No. 1 and Kenzie Brower and Ensley Alden defeated Haley Coggins and Dylan Hall on the No. 3 court by the score of 21-14, 21-11.
PEPPERDINE 3, CSUN 2
The Matadors went into their final dual match of the weekend seeking their first-ever win over the Waves in six all-time meetings. CSUN came up agonizingly short in a 3-2 loss that saw the No. 4 and No. 5 pairs pick up the Matadors' lone wins on the day. Miles and Cederlind got CSUN on the board first with a 21-13, 21-14 victory over Emma Bubelis and Marley Johnson in the No. 4 pair. Pepperdine pulled even with a 2118, 21-16 win in the No. 2 pair as Madison Oriskovich and Gabriella Perez topped Mendiola and Patrick. The No. 3 pair also went to the Waves as Emma Eden and Ella Foto defeated Coggins and Hall by the score of 21-15, 21-19. CSUN would then even the dual at two wins apiece when Heflin and Gillnger took a 22-20, 21-14 victory over Emi Erickson and Deanie Woodruff at No. 5. The turned all the attention to the No. 1 match and after the pairs traded the first two sets, Kate Clermont and McKenna Thomas held off Mae and Lindhardt 15-6 in the deciding third set to seal the win.
CSUN BEACH VOLLEYBALL HISTORY
The Matadors are 118-137 (.463) 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 35 wins in her two-plus seasons, finishing 17-16 in 2023, 16-21 in 2024, and 2-4 so far in 2025. She now needs just 14 wins to surpass Noelle Rooke (48 wins from 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. CSU Bakersfield then eliminated the Matadors 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.
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