CSUN Wins Thriller Against Richmond, 4-3 in Northridge

Friday, March 13

Northridge, Calif

11:00 a.m.

California State University at Northridge

Richmond

Photo by: Chuck Marvel

CSUN Wins Thriller Against Richmond, 4-3 in Northridge

3/13/2026 9:17:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. --- The CSUN women's tennis team won its fourth dual in a row as the Matadors edged the Richmond Spiders 4-3 on Friday afternoon at the Matador Tennis Complex. CSUN clinched the match with a three-set victory by Satsuki Ishikawa on court No. 5.

HOW IT HAPPENED
CSUN secured the doubles point to open the match. The duo of Angela Ho and Nicole West dominated Sofia Barbulescu and Abby Lee 6-0 on court No. 1, while Madison Shepperson and Satsuki Ishikawa defeated Beatriz Guerra and Elizabeth Novak 6-2 on court No. 3.

Richmond quickly responded in singles play, picking up wins on courts No. 4 and No. 1. Lucy Webber defeated Tallia Harper, 6-2, 6-2 before Barbulescu topped Ho, 6-3, 6-1 to give the Spiders a brief lead, 2-1.

The Matadors regained momentum with a straight-set victory on court No. 3 when Emma Moratalla Sanz earned a 6-2, 6-3 win over Abby Lee to even up the score at two wins apiece.

Moratalla Sanz commented on her win against Lee: "Overall, the weather played a factor today. It was very hot. I felt like though as a team we are more used to the heat compared to Richmond because they play indoors most of the year. That was an advantage for us. On the win though, I trust my teammates, I knew that we were going to play very well. Overall it was a good win."

The Spiders quickly took the lead once again on court No. 6 as Lainey O'Neil defeated Madison Shepperson, 6-3, 6-4.

Nicole West followed with another straight set decision 7-6, 6-3, defeating Elizabeth Novak to even the match at 3-3.

The freshman from Japan, Ishikawa had all the pressure on her shoulders to close the match. She has been flawless to start her collegiate career. She fell in the first set to Guerra by a score of 7-6. With a crowd gathering watching as the last match of the day, Ishikawa came up victorious in the next two sets, 6-3, 6-3 to secure the win for the Matadors. She is now 5-0 on the year with the win.

"I was nervous because the result of the match came down to my match." Ishikawa said. "But my teammates helped me to push through. My coaches helped as well. They have been so kind in helping me adjust to my new home."

NOTES OF THE GAME

Moratalla Sanz improves to a team best 11-1 on the season.
Ho improves to 9-2 in singles play.
CSUN is now 5-2 in home duals.
West improves to 5-4 in singles play on the season.
This was the first ever contest between CSUN and Richmond.

ACCORDING TO HEAD COACH GARY VICTOR
" Richmond is a very good team. We were coming in a little beat up. We fought through it. Emma was being Emma, she is one of the best all-time in this program. Nicole and Angela are also an elite doubles team. We also all trust Satsuki, even knowing that she is only a freshman. Players like her and Sandra [Arguelles] mean this program is in really good hands. I am really proud of our battle. We have to continue to grind through the season and Big West play. Our conference is the toughest it has been in a while. Every match can come down to the end."

UP NEXT
CSUN will play Omaha on Thursday at Matador Tennis Complex. First serve is set for 9:30 a.m.