California State University Northridge Athletics
California State University at Northridge
UC Irvine
11/11/2026 3:27:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
CSUNÂ THIS WEEK:
MATCH #25 (BIG WEST #15)
CSUN Matadors (11-13, 7-7) @ UC Irvine Anteaters (9-16, 7-7)
Friday, Nov. 13, 2026Â - 6Â p.m. PT
Bren Events Center - Irvine, Calif.
ESPN+Â //Â Live Stats
MATCH #26Â (BIG WEST #16)
CSUN Matadors @ UC San Diego Tritons
Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026Â - 5Â p.m. PT
LionTree Arena - La Jolla, 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 (11-13, 7-7 Big West) hits the road for the final time in the 2026 regular season this week, traveling to UC Irvine on Friday and UC San Diego on Saturday. The Matadors, Anteaters, and Tritons are currently locked in a four-way tie with Utah Valley for the sixth-place in the Big West standings at 7-7, making this week's matches crucial to each team's hopes of securing a berth in the postseason. Â
FOLLOW YOUR MATADORS
Both matches this week will stream live on ESPN+ with links for all video streaming and live stats are available at GoMatadors.com. 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 Irvine (9-16, 7-7 Big West) opens the week with a 9-16 overall record and a 7-7 mark in Big West Conference play. After dropping their Big West opener to Long Beach State, the Anteaters won seven of their next eight, including a 3-1 win at CSUN on Oct. 17. UCI would endure a five-match losing streak.
Series: Friday's match is the 71st meeting all-time between the two longtime rivals. UCI leads the all-time series 39-31 and is 32-17 against the Matadors in 49 Big West matches. The Matadors are 12-22 all-time against the Anteaters in Irvine..
UC San Diego (11-14, 7-7 Big West), which hosts Cal State Bakersfield on Friday before taking on the Matadors on Saturday, are 11-14 overall record and 7-7 in the Big West. Under head coach Spencer McLachlin, the Tritons are led by junior opposite Molly McCluskey—a recent Big West Offensive Player of the Week—anchors the Triton attack, while junior defensive specialist Paulina Baillie headlines the back row and service line
Series: Saturday's match will be the 21st meeting all-time between the Matador and Tritons. CSUN holds a 12-8 lead in the overall series, but UCSD leads 8-2 in the 10 Big West match- es between the two teams. The Matadors are 6-3 all-time against the Tritons in La Jolla..
BIG WEST POSTSEASON PICTURE
CSUN opens the penultimate week of the Big West season tied for sixth in the Big West standings at 7-7. The Matadors are tied with a trio of teams (UC San Diego, UC Irvine, Utah Valley) for the sixth and final berth in the Big West Championship (Nov. 25-28). The quartet of teams open the week one game behind Cal State Bakersfield (8-6) and two games behind Sacramento State and UC Santa Barbara which share third place at 8-6. At 13-1, Cal Poly has a one-game lead at the top of the conference standings over Long Beach State (12-2).
BLOTZER NAMED BIG WEST ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
CSUN sophomore outside hitter Fallyn Blotzer was named Big West Rookie of the Week after helping the Matadors to a pair of five-set conference wins last week. In CSUN's 3-2 win over California Baptist on Thursday (Nov. 5), Blotzer led all players in the match with 21 kills while hitting .390 on 41 swings. She also added 13 digs - along with six blocks - for her fourth double-double of the 2026 season. Blotzer then matched her Thursday total with 21 kills against UC Riverside on Saturday, hitting .286 on 49 attacks. She doubled up for the second straight match, adding 16 digs along with two aces and three blocks. For the week, Blozter averaged 4.20 kills and 2.90 digs per set while hitting .333 on 90 swings. She is the third CSUN player this season to earn a Big West weekly award following Iye Okolo (Defensive Player of the Week) on Aug. 31 and Hailey Brockway (Offensive Player of the Week) on Sept. 14.
SENTES TAKES OVER AS DIGS LEADER
With her eighth dig against UC San Diego on Oct. 16, senior libero Paige Sentes became CSUN's all-time digs leader. Sentes, who returned to the starting lineup on Saturday after missed three of CSUN's last four matches due to injury, increased her career record total to 1,526 with 31 digs against CBU and UCR last week. After opening her senior season in eighth place with 1,196 digs, Sentes has a team-high 330 digs this season to move past Monica McFarland, Amy Hultner, Natalie Allen, Nadine Nickel, Kelley Hanson, Katie Sato, and finally Cindy Ortiz (1,456) who had held the program digs record since 2012. Alexis Cormier (1998-01) holds the sideout scoring era record with 1,194 career digs. With her 10th dig in a 13-dig performance at UC Irvine on Oct. 11, 2025, Sentes became the 12th CSUN player to reach 1,000 digs in her career.
MATADORS ON THE CAREER CHARTSÂ
After becoming just the eighth player in CSUN history with 2,000 career assists earlier this season, senior Katie Kolar added 80 assists to her career tally in two matches last week to move past Kayla Wright into sixth-place on the CSUN career list with 2,512. With 67 career solo blocks, including a team-high 28 this season, Okolo has moved up to third in career solo blocks in program history. Okolo also has 302 career block assists for a career total of 369 which is ninth in school history. Fellow senior Tatiana Turgeon ranks ninth with 53 career solo blocks and 303 career block assists for a total of 356 which is just outside the CSUN career top 10.
CSUN MAINTAINS BIG WEST BLOCKS LEAD
Heading into the eighth week of the Big West season, CSUN continues to lead the Big West in blocks per set (2.58) and total team blocks (250.5). Behind Okolo (1.32) and Turgeon (1.15), who rank first and fourth in blocks per set, the Matadors also rank 30th in the NCAA this week in blocks per set and are 17th in the nation in total team blocks.
UP NEXT
Following this week's road matches at UC Irvine and UC San Diego, CSUN wraps up the regular season at home against Utah Valley (Nov. 20) and Sacramento State (Nov. 21).
#GoMatadors
