California State University at Northridge
Idaho State
The Ridge Invitational Opens CSUN's 50th Season of Women's Volleyball
8/26/2025 1:16:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
CSUNÂ THIS WEEK - THE RIDGE INVITATIONAL:
MATCH #1
Idaho State Bengals (0-0) @Â CSUN Matadors (0-0)
Friday, Aug. 29, 2025 - 6:00 p.m. PT
Premier America Credit Union Arena - Northridge, Calif.
Live Stats  // ESPN+
MATCH #2
Pacific Tigers @ CSUN Matadors
Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025Â -Â 6:00Â p.m. PT
Premier America Credit Union Arena - Northridge, Calif.
Live Stats // ESPN+
MATCH #3
California Baptist Lancers @Â CSUN Matadors
Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025Â - 2:00Â p.m. PT
Premier America Credit Union Arena - Northridge, Calif.
Live Stats
In-game X updates:Â @CSUNWVB
CSUN WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL MEDIA NOTES
FORÂ STARTERS
The CSUN women's volleyball team (0-0, 0-0 Big West) opens up its 50th season of women's volleyball this week as the Matadors host the inaugural Ridge Invitational at Premier America Credit Union Arena. California Baptist, Idaho State, and Pacific joins the field this weekend as two matches will be played each day from Friday through Sunday. The Matadors will open against Idaho State on Friday at 6 p.m., before taking on Pacific on Saturday at 6 p.m. CSUN concludes the weekend against CBU on Sunday at 2 p.m.
The full tournament schedule can be found here.Â
FOLLOW YOUR MATADORS
CSUN's matches on Friday and Saturday will stream live on ESPN+ while all matches will have live stats available at GoMatadors.com. Darren Preston returns to call CSUN Volleyball again 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 RIDGE INVITATIONAL FIELD
Idaho State (0-0) finished 21-10 overall and 11-5 in Big Sky play last season under head coach Sean Carter, a former CSUN Men's Volleyball student-athlete in 2007. The Bengals were picked to finish tied for third in the Big Sky and collected two first-place votes. Junior middle blocker Jaydin Watts earned recognition as the Big Sky Preseason MVP, while senior opposite hitter Meline Shulikov joined her on the Preseason All-Conference Team.
Series: Friday's match is the 20th meeting all time between the Matadors and Bengals with CSUN holding a 15-4 lead in the all-time series. The two teams were rivals in the Big Sky Conference from 1996-2000.
Pacific (0-0) was tabbed seventh in the 2025 West Coast Conference preseason poll. The Tigers enter the season returning just three players from 2024's team that finished 19-13. Senior libero Jayhlin Swain returns after scooping up 524 digs last season, second most in a single season in program history. Sophomore Aly Cox also returns after leading the Tigers in kills as a freshman.
Series: Saturday's match is the 27th meeting all time between CSUN and Pacific with the Tigers holding a 15-11 edge in the series. Pacific defeated the Matadors in four sets in the most recent meeting in 2021.
California Baptist (0-0), under first-year head coach Trevor Johnson, opens the season with nine new players along with a handful of returners. Graduate opposite Eliana Posada was named to the Western Athletic Conference all-preseason team after finishing in the top three in kills in 2024 and second on the team in blocks.
Series: Saturday's match is just the third meeting all time between CSUN and CBU with the series tied at one win apiece. The Matadors claimed a 3-0 sweep in their 2024 home opener last season.
2024 SEASON OUTLOOK
CSUN returns all seven starters and 12 letterwinners from 2024 as Aquiles Montoya opens his season season. Senior Amaris Smith, who led CSUN with 383 kills in 2024, along with fellow senior Leah Miller (311 kills), and Hailey Brockway (306 kills) return to pace the offense behind junior setter Katie Kolar. Fellow starters Paige Sentes, Iye Okolo, and Tatiana Turgeon also return. Sentes ranked second in the Big West a season ago with 468 digs while averaging 4.03 digs per set. She also had 30 aces which was second on the team. Turgeon returns after leading the Matadors with 99 blocks in 2024, followed by Okolo with 82 total blocks. The 2025 season also figures to see the debut of several new players to the CSUN roster including Gonzaga transfer Hayley Ogden (MB, 6-1, So.), redshirt freshman Kyleigh Moore (OH, 5-11), along with true freshmen Layla Moore (MB, 6-3), Saniyah Sobers (L/DS, 5-6), and Raegan Richardson (OH, 6-0).
"Really excited about this group," said Montoya. "This year is completely different from last year when we had 11-12 brand new players. We essentially have 15 returners and our three freshmen look awesome."
MATADORS IN SEASON OPENERS
CSUN comes into Friday's match against Idaho State with an all-time record of 20-24 (.455) in season-openers dating back to 1978. The Matadors will look to snap their current skid in season-openers as CSUN has dropped its last nine season openers dating back to 2015. The 2020 season was not contested due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In recent years, CSUN fell to Seattle in Pocatello, Idaho in five sets last season. Prior to 2024, the Matadors dropped a 3-2 decision to Santa Clara (3-2) to open the 2023 season after dropping a 3-0 decision to Drake to open the 2022 season at the Air Force tournament. The Matadors last won their season opener in 2014, defeating UNLV in four sets in Las Vegas. The last time CSUN opened a season at home was 2005 when the Matadors hosted Arizona State as part of the Fremont Investment & Loan Invitational.
CSUN QUICK SETS
After opening the season with three home matches, CSUN will then play 10 of its next 11 matches on the road. The Matadors will next travel to the Portland Invitational (Sept. 4-6), meeting Eastern Washington, Colorado State, and the host Pilots. CSUN will travel to Fresno for a neutral site match against Santa Clara on Sept. 11, before returning home to host Lipscomb on Sept. 13. The Matadors will then play a stretch of six straight road matches to wrap up the non-conference season while opening up Big West play at Cal Poly on Sept. 26.
CSUN HEAD COACH AQUILES MONTOYAÂ
Aquiles Montoya was named the ninth head coach of the CSUN women's volleyball program on Apr. 10, 2024. Montoya comes to 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 this weekend's invitational in Northridge, the Matadors will next travel to the Portland Invitational (Sept. 4-6), taking on Eastern Washington, Colorado State, and the host Pilots over the three-day tournament.
#GoMatadors
