California State University Northridge Athletics
California State University at Northridge
Lincoln Memorial
No. 17 CSUN Opens Three-Match Homestand vs. #19 Lincoln Memorial
2/17/2026 3:14:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
CSUN THIS WEEK:
MATCH #12
#19 LMU Railsplitters (7-3) @Â #17Â CSUN Matadors (7-4)
Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026Â - 6:00Â p.m. PT
Premier America Credit Union Arena - Northridge, Calif.
ESPN+
Live Stats
MATCH #13
UC Merced Bobcats @ #17 CSUN Matadors
Friday, Feb. 20, 2026Â - 6:00Â p.m. PT
Premier America Credit Union Arena - Northridge, Calif.
Live Stats
In-game XÂ updates:Â @CSUNMensVB
CSUNÂ Men's Volleyball Media Notes
FORÂ STARTERS
No. 17 CSUN (7-4) is back inside Premier America Credit Union Arena this week to take on No. 19 Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday and UC Merced on Friday. Both matches are scheduled for a 6 p.m. first serve. Lincoln Memorial is the fourth straight ranked team CSUN will face in the last two weeks. The Matadors dropped their third straight last week, falling to No. 1 UCLA in straight sets in Westwood.Â
FOLLOW YOUR MATADORS ONLINE
Wednesday's match against Lincoln Memorial will stream live on ESPN+, while Friday's match vs. UC Merced will have live stats only (links at GoMatadors.com). Darren Preston, who handles a majority of the play-by-play for CSUN home matches, will be at the call for Wednesday's match. Preston will be joined by Aquiles Montoya, CSUN Women's Volleyball head coach and former player at Grand Canyon, for select broadcasts.
Fans can also follow CSUN Matador men's volleyball online at the official home of CSUN athletics, www. GoMatadors.com for related links to the match, including any live stats, audio and video. Fans are also encouraged to check the CSUN Athletics Department's official X feed (@Â GoMatadors) and the volleyball-specific feed (@CSUNMensVB) for news and notes throughout the week as well as updates of matches in progress.
CSUNÂ REMAINSÂ 17TH IN LATESTÂ AVCAÂ MEN'S VOLLEYBALL POLL
After opening the season ranked 11th in the AVCA preseason poll, the Matadors (7-4) remained 17th in the seventh National Collegiate Poll of the 2026 season. CSUN, which earned 238 points to rank 11th in the initial poll, earned 116 points this week after falling in straight sets at No. 1 UCLA last week. The Matadors have now been ranked in all seven polls in 2026. CSUN, which was ranked in all 18 polls last season, finished in the top 10 in the final poll of the 2025 season, the Matadors' first top 10 final ranking since 2018.Â
Since reclaiming a spot in the AVCA national poll in 2023, CSUN has been ranked in the top 20 for 42 consecutive polls and 52 of the last 55 AVCA national polls since the 2023 season. CSUN has been a fixture in the national polls historically, having previously been ranked in the AVCA Top-15 for 62 consecutive weeks and 262 of the last 289 weekly polls dating back to the 2002 season.Â
UCLA (11-0) remained the top-ranked team for the seventh straight week, collecting all 24 first-place votes and 499 total points. Long Beach State (9-1) remained second after receiving 471 points, followed by Hawai'i (12-1), UC Irvine (12-1), and USC (8-1). The remainder of this week's top 10 includes Pepperdine (7-2), BYU (11-2), Ball State (12-1), Loyola Chicago (8-4), and UC San Diego (6-4). The second half of this week's top-20 poll includes Lindenwood (9-2), McKendree (6-6), Ohio State (7-4), UC Santa Barbara (6-5), Lewis (7-6), Penn State (8-4), the Matadors (7-4), Stanford (3-8), Lincoln Memorial (7-3), and NJIT (8-5).
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
#19 Lincoln Memorial (7-3) opens a three-match West Coast trip on Wednesday in Northridge. The Railsplitters, who also play at No. 14 UC Santa Barbara and No. 6 Pepperdine, have won three straight and four of their last five. LMU is hitting .306 as a team though 10 matches behind senior Johan Negron who averages a team-high 3.03 kills per set. Freshman Roman Mahlerwein has posted 204 assists this season, averaging 10.20 per set.
All-time series: Wednesday's match is just the second meeting all-time between CSUN and Lincoln Memorial. The Matadors claimed the first meeting (3-0) at the 2023 UCSB Asics Invitational behind a match-high 15 kills from Kyle Hobus.
UC Merced (3-4) has dropped four of its last five matches, after opening the season with two straight wins. The Bobcats are coming off a 3-0 loss at No. 10 UC San Diego (25-15, 25-21, 25-15) on Monday in La Jolla. Junior Kaleb Cole led UCM with 10 kills, matching the highest kills output by any Bobcat against a NCAA Division I opponent since Chris Morikawa in 2022. The Bobcats' three wins this season have come against Simpson twice (3-1, 3-1) and La Sierra (3-0).
All-time series: Friday's match is the seventh meeting all-time between CSUN and UC Merced with the Matadors unbeaten in the previous six matches - all played in Northridge. CSUN won in four sets in the most recent match between the two teams in 2024 in Northridge. Hobus led all hitters with 14 kills for the Matadors, who also got 11 kills (.304) from Jalen Phillips.
PHILLIPS MAINTAINS BIG WEST KILLS LEAD
CSUN junior opposite Jalen Phillips, who took over as the Big West leader in kills per set last week, upped his season average to 3.86 this week. With 108 kills over 28 sets, Phillips leads second-place Sebastiano Sani of UC San Diego who opens the week at 3.58 kills per set. Phillips is also eighth in the Big West in hitting percentage (.347) and second in points per set at 4.38.
MATADORS LOOK FOR FIRST RANKED WIN OF '26
After falling to No. 1 UCLA last week, CSUN will look to secure its first win over a ranked team this season against No. 19 Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday. The Matadors are now 0-3 against ranked teams this season with losses to No. 4 USC (3-2), No. 6 Pepperdine (3-0), and No. 1 UCLA (3-0). CSUN did record a 3-0 win over Fort Valley State which was receiving votes in the Jan. 19 poll. CSUN's last victory over a ranked team came over No. 10 UC San Diego last Apr. 12 in La Jolla.
CSUN IN THE BIG WEST STATS RANKINGS
In this week's Big West statistical rankings, the Matadors remained second in kills per set at 12.72. CSUN dropped from second to fourth in assists per set this week at 11.77. In other team rankings, the Matadors are third in hitting percentage (.350), fifth in points per set (15.83), and sixth in digs per set (7.51), aces per set (1.36), opponent hitting percentage (.245), and blocks per set (1.76).
Individually, in addition to Phillips, Grayson Albers remains second this week in hitting (.533), and is 18th in both aces per set (0.30) and blocks per set (0.70), and 19th in points per set (2.47). Owen Douphner remains second in assists per set (9.89), and also ranks 16th in digs per set (1.26), 19th in aces per set (0.26) and 20th in blocks per set (0.63). Joao Avila is fifth this week in digs per set (1.64). Lucas is sixth this week in kills per set (3.4536) and eighth in hitting percentage (.347). Lucas also ranks 11th in points per set (4.38) and 20th in digs per set (1.16). Joao Favarim is 13th this week in blocks per set (0.79) and Noah Douphner is 18th in hitting percentage (.261).
CSUN QUICK SETS
CSUN opens the week with three of the top eight hitting percentage leaders in the Big West. Albers, who would rank second in the NCAA with enough attempts to qualify, ranks second, followed by Lucas in fifth, and Phillips in eighth ... With five non-conference matches remaining this season, CSUN is 7-4 heading into Wednesday's match against Lincoln Memorial. Three of CSUN's four non-conference losses have come against ranked teams with Lindenwood now sitting 11th in the rankings. Last season, the Matadors finished the non-conference portion of the season with a 13-5 record. The Matadors' three non-conference losses last season all came against ranked teams. No. 3 UCLA, No. 6 USC, and No. 8 Loyola Chicago.
MATADORS IN THE BIG WEST Â
The 2026 season marks CSUN's ninth as a member of the Big West in men's volleyball. With a 3-7 regular season record in 2025, the Matadors are 18-52 (.257) in 70 Big West matches over eight seasons since the conference's inaugural campaign in 2018. CSUN finished 5-5 in the first Big West season in 2018 before finishing 3-7 in 2019, 2024, and 2025, 2-8 in 2021 and 1-9 in both 2022 and 2023. Prior to 2018, the Matadors played 25 seasons as a member of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) from 1993-2017 and 16 seasons in the Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (WIVA) from 1977-92.
EDWARDS EARNS 50TH WIN AS CSUN HEAD COACH
Theo Edwards earned the 50th win of his CSUN career when the Matadors swept Edward Waters on Jan. 30. Edwards is in his fourth season as head coach in 2026 (16th season at CSUNÂ overall) after leading the Matadors back into the AVCA national rankings in his first three seasons. Named the successor to Jeff Campbell on Dec. 9, 2022, Edwards owns a career record of 50-47 (.515). CSUN finished 12-16 in Edwards's first season (1-9 in the Big West) in 2023 and the Matadors have steadily improved in each of Edwards's three seasons. CSUN finished 13-16 in 2024 and 18-11 in 2025. Under Edwards' leadership, CSUN earned a No. 7 national ranking on Mar. 10 of the 2025 season, its highest national ranking in seven seasons. The Matadors finished the 2025 season with a No. 9 national ranking, also their best since 2018.
LOOKING AHEAD
Following two home matches this week (LMU, UC Merced), the Matadors close their three-match homestand next week against Cal Lutheran (Feb. 27) at 6 p.m. CSUN then opens Big West play on Mar. 3 at No. 10 UC San Diego.
#GoMatadors
