California State University Northridge Athletics
Wednesday, April 22
San Diego, Calif.
12:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
vs
UC Irvine
Photo by: Chuck Marvel
Women’s Tennis Begins Quest for First-Ever Big West Championship Wednesday
4/21/2026 4:51:00 PM | Women's Tennis
SAN DIEGO, Calif. ---CSUN Women's Tennis is embarking on capturing its first Big West Championship as the 2026 Big West Women's Tennis Championship is this week from Wednesday to Saturday. CSUN's first match is Wednesday with its first opponent being the UC Irvine Anteaters. First serve is set for noon.
FOR STARTERS
The Matadors have ended the regular season tied for fourth place in the Big West, but will enter the tournament as the sixth seed and UC Irvine is the seventh seed. The Matadors finished the regular season 14-7 and 5-4 in Big West play. CSUN has turned their season around after dropping the first three games in conference play to UC Davis, Cal Poly and Cal State Fullerton. CSUN finished the season with wins over UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC San Diego and Hawai'i with their only loss in April coming against No.1 seed UC Santa Barbara on the road.
The Matadors and Anteaters? matched up in Irvine on April 4 where CSUN won 6-1. Emma Moratalla Sanz, Nicole West, Satsuki Ishikawa, Tallia Harper, and Sandra Arguelles all won their singles matches.
NICOLE AND EMMA BACK TO BACK PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
This week, senior Nicole West took home Big West Player of the Week honors. She finished last week with two doubles wins and one singles victory. Despite CSUN dropping match to UC Santa Barbara, the duo of Angela Ho and West earned a 6-3 win at the top spot over Ekua Youri and Caroline Beard to put CSUN in contention for the doubles point.
Against Hawai'i, West earned two victories. In doubles, Ho and West defeated Grete Gull and Sophie Rachor, 6-4, at Court No. 1. West finished her doubles campaign with a record of 13-5. West earned a hard-fought victory at Court No. 3 against the Rainbow Wahine, outlasting Hannah Galindo in a match that had a tiebreaking first set, 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 10-1 to earn the seventh and final point of the day for the Matadors. West finished the regular season with a 10-6 record. It was the first time in her career that West took home player of the week honors.
Last week, Moratalla Sanz took home her first player of the week honors as well.
Moratalla Sanz clinched CSUN's victory over Long Beach State with a win on April 10 at Court No. 2. In the Matadors' 4-3 win, she delivered a three-set, back and forth victory over Diana De Simone, 6-3, 2-6, 6-1. At doubles against the Beach, Moratalla Sanz and Sandra Arguelles earned a 7-5 win over Thea Jagare and Pamela Badillo to clinch the doubles point.
CSUN won its second match of the week and fourth win in a row when it took down UC San Diego on April 12. Moratalla Sanz capped off the team victory for CSUN with another three-set comeback, defeating Carling Allaye-Chan, 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, on Court No. 2. The senior from Valencia, Spain dropped the first set and was down 4-1 in the second set and came back to earn the win.
Moratalla Sanz led the team in wins as she finished her season with a 16-4 record.
ABOUT UC IRVINE
UC Irvine enters the Big West Championship as the No. 7 seed, its highest finish in regular season conference play since claiming the same spot in 2022. The Anteaters recorded two ranked victories in 2025-26 (#64 Hawai'i and #73 Cal Poly) for the first time since the 2012-13 season. UC Irvine wrapped up the season with Bella Pitchford leading the team in overall singles dual wins, going 14-5. Pitchford and Quin Brady tied with Amanda Perez and Carolyna Fowler for the lead in doubles wins with both pairs recording eight victories in 2026.
SERIES HISTORY:
UC Irvine leads the series 29-13, but CSUN has won the last eight meetings, dating back to 2018.
FOR STARTERS
The Matadors have ended the regular season tied for fourth place in the Big West, but will enter the tournament as the sixth seed and UC Irvine is the seventh seed. The Matadors finished the regular season 14-7 and 5-4 in Big West play. CSUN has turned their season around after dropping the first three games in conference play to UC Davis, Cal Poly and Cal State Fullerton. CSUN finished the season with wins over UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC San Diego and Hawai'i with their only loss in April coming against No.1 seed UC Santa Barbara on the road.
The Matadors and Anteaters? matched up in Irvine on April 4 where CSUN won 6-1. Emma Moratalla Sanz, Nicole West, Satsuki Ishikawa, Tallia Harper, and Sandra Arguelles all won their singles matches.
NICOLE AND EMMA BACK TO BACK PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
This week, senior Nicole West took home Big West Player of the Week honors. She finished last week with two doubles wins and one singles victory. Despite CSUN dropping match to UC Santa Barbara, the duo of Angela Ho and West earned a 6-3 win at the top spot over Ekua Youri and Caroline Beard to put CSUN in contention for the doubles point.
Against Hawai'i, West earned two victories. In doubles, Ho and West defeated Grete Gull and Sophie Rachor, 6-4, at Court No. 1. West finished her doubles campaign with a record of 13-5. West earned a hard-fought victory at Court No. 3 against the Rainbow Wahine, outlasting Hannah Galindo in a match that had a tiebreaking first set, 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 10-1 to earn the seventh and final point of the day for the Matadors. West finished the regular season with a 10-6 record. It was the first time in her career that West took home player of the week honors.
Last week, Moratalla Sanz took home her first player of the week honors as well.
Moratalla Sanz clinched CSUN's victory over Long Beach State with a win on April 10 at Court No. 2. In the Matadors' 4-3 win, she delivered a three-set, back and forth victory over Diana De Simone, 6-3, 2-6, 6-1. At doubles against the Beach, Moratalla Sanz and Sandra Arguelles earned a 7-5 win over Thea Jagare and Pamela Badillo to clinch the doubles point.
CSUN won its second match of the week and fourth win in a row when it took down UC San Diego on April 12. Moratalla Sanz capped off the team victory for CSUN with another three-set comeback, defeating Carling Allaye-Chan, 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, on Court No. 2. The senior from Valencia, Spain dropped the first set and was down 4-1 in the second set and came back to earn the win.
Moratalla Sanz led the team in wins as she finished her season with a 16-4 record.
ABOUT UC IRVINE
UC Irvine enters the Big West Championship as the No. 7 seed, its highest finish in regular season conference play since claiming the same spot in 2022. The Anteaters recorded two ranked victories in 2025-26 (#64 Hawai'i and #73 Cal Poly) for the first time since the 2012-13 season. UC Irvine wrapped up the season with Bella Pitchford leading the team in overall singles dual wins, going 14-5. Pitchford and Quin Brady tied with Amanda Perez and Carolyna Fowler for the lead in doubles wins with both pairs recording eight victories in 2026.
SERIES HISTORY:
UC Irvine leads the series 29-13, but CSUN has won the last eight meetings, dating back to 2018.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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