California State University Northridge Athletics
California State University at Northridge
UC Irvine
#18 CSUN Travels to Irvine Before Hosting #6 Anteaters on Saturday
4/8/2026 2:56:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
CSUN THIS WEEK:
MATCH #23Â (BIG WEST #7)
#18 CSUN Matadors (12-10, 0-6 Big West) @ #6 UC Irvine Anteaters (15-5, 3-3 Big West)
Thursday, Apr. 9, 2026Â - 6:00Â p.m. PT
Bren Events Center - Irvine, Calif.
ESPN+
Live Stats
MATCH #24Â (BIG WEST #8)
#6Â UC Irvine Anteaters @ #18Â CSUN Matadors
Saturday, Apr. 11, 2026Â - 6:00Â p.m. PT
Premier America Credit Union Arena - Northridge, Calif.
ESPN+
Live Stats
In-game XÂ updates:Â @CSUNMensVB
CSUNÂ Men's Volleyball Media Notes
FORÂ STARTERS
No. 18 CSUN (12-10, 0-6 Big West) closes out the 2026 home season this week as the Matadors open a home-and-home series with No. 6 UC Irvine. The two teams will meet at the Bren Events Center on Thursday before squaring off on Saturday inside Premier America Credit Union Arena at 6 p.m. first serve. CSUN is coming off a 0-2 week that saw the Matadors drop a 3-0 road decision at No. 8 UC Santa Barbara before falling in four sets on Saturday in Northridge.
FOLLOW YOUR MATADORS ONLINE
Both matches against UC Irvine will stream live on ESPN+ and will have live stats (links at GoMatadors.com). Cooper Hopkins and Alexandra Lukas will be on the call for CSUN's final home match of the season on Saturday vs. the Anteaters.
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 REMAINS 18TH IN LATESTÂ AVCAÂ MEN'S VOLLEYBALL POLL
After opening the season ranked 11th in the AVCA preseason poll, the Matadors (12-10) remained 18th in this week's National Collegiate Poll. CSUN, which earned 238 points to rank 11th in the initial poll of the season, earned 87 points this week after dropping a pair of Big West matches to No. 8Â UC Santa Barbara last week. The Matadors have now been ranked in all 14 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 now been ranked in the top 20 for 49 consecutive polls and 59 of the last 62 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 (21-1) remained the top-ranked team for the 14th straight week, collecting 23 of 25 first-place votes and 498 total points. Hawai'i (23-3) remained second after receiving one first-place vote and 475 points, followed by Long Beach State (18-4), USC (16-3), and Pepperdine (18-5). The remainder of this week's top 10 features UC Irvine (15-5), Ball State (21-3), UC Santa Barbara (13-9), Loyola Chicago (17-6), and BYU (19-8). The second half of this week's top-20 poll includes McKendree (16-9), Lindenwood (18-6), UC San Diego (11-11), Stanford (9-12), Penn State (16-7), Lewis (15-12), Ohio State (13-10), the Matadors (12-10), NJIT (14-8), and Purdue Fort Wayne (11-10).
SCOUTING UC IRVINE
#6 UC Irvine (15-5, 3-3 Big West) dropped back-to-back matches for the first time this season last week, falling twice to No. 2 Hawai'i at home (3-2, 3-0). The Rainbow Warriors hit .466 on Saturday, a season-high for a UCI opponent this season. Big West Freshman of the Week Andrej Jokanovic led UCI with 22 kills in the first match. Nationally, the Anteaters rank 11th in kills (12.40), 12th in hitting percentage (.310), 14th in assists (11.57) and 15th in aces (1.55). CSUN is ninth in kills (12.58) and hitting percentage (.329) and 11th in assists (11.71). The Anteaters are 5-4 at home and 10-1 away from the Bren Center.
All-time series: The two matches this week are is the 83rd and 84th all-time between CSUN and UC Irvine. In the series that dates back to 1977, UCI holds a 45-37 edge in 82 previous matches. The Anteaters claimed both regular season meetings last season (3-0 in Irvine, 3-2 in Northridge) before winning in five sets at the Big West Championship in Honolulu.
CSUN SENIOR NIGHT
Prior to Saturday's regular season finale, CSUN will celebrate its 2026 senior class. Niall Finnegan, Braden Pool-Harris, Jordan Lucas, and Shane Nhem will be honored in a pre-match ceremony. Lucas, a first-year Matador after transferring from Grand Canyon, has played in 18 matches and 47 sets this season. His season highlight was a 30-kill effort at No. 4 USC that saw him named Big West Offensive Player of the Week. For the season, Lucas ranks second on the team with 121 kills while averaging 2.57 kills per set. Nhem, a two-year Matador, has appeared in 31 matches and 90 sets in his career. A UCSB Invitational All-Tournament selection, Nhem is a .443 career hitter and has 130 kills and 73 blocks in his CSUN career. Finnegan lettered in 2024 and 2026, appearing in 10 sets while Pool-Harris has appeared in 29 matches and 97 sets with 47 digs in his CSUN career.
PHILLIPS REACHES 1,000 CAREER KILLS
With his 13th kill in a 19-kill effort against Jessup on Mar. 19, junior opposite Jalen Phillips became the 16th player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills. With 1,036 career kills, Phillips moved into eighth place on the CSUN Rally Scoring era kills list, passing Isaac Kneubuhl (2005-08) last week. Phillips now has his sights set on Brian Waite who had 1,068 kills in 404 from 2003-06.
After missing two matches last week, Phillips dropped to second in the Big West in kills per set this week at 3.93. Phillips, who held the conference lead for six weeks, has a team-high 240 kills over 61 sets this season. At 3.93 kps, Phillips opens the week ranked second to Hawai'i's Kristian Titriyski who averages 3.98 kills per set. Phillips, who is also second the Big West points per set at 4.50, ranks fifth in hitting percentage (.342). In the national statistics, he ranks seventh in kills (3.93), 10th in points (4.50), 21st in hitting percentage (.342), and 26th in attacks per set (7.92).
CSUN QUICK SETS
Kaufman collected his first career double-double with 10 kills and a career-high 10 digs against UC Santa Barbara on Saturday. Kaufman narrowly missed his first with 10 kills and nine digs in a 3-1 win over Jessup on Mar. 19 ... Redshirt junior Malcolm King is coming off a career week that saw him connect for 25 kills in two matches against UC Santa Barbara. King had 10 kills (.467) on Thursday in Goleta before connecting for 15 kills (.229) in a 3-1 loss at home. King also had a career-high four aces on Saturday ... Owen Douphner put down a career-high six kills at UC Santa Barbara, while Noah Douphner took a season-high 36 swings against the Gauchos on Saturday.
CSUN IN THE BIG WEST STATS RANKINGS
In this week's Big West statistical rankings, the Matadors remained second in kills per set at 12.58 but dropped to third in assists per set at 11.71. CSUN, which is also third this week in hitting percentage (.329), is also fourth in digs per set (7.44), fifth in opponent hitting percentage (.250), and sixth in points per set (15.65), aces per set (1.09) and blocks per set (1.97). Individually, in addition to Phillips, Jordan Lucas ranks 12th in hitting percentage (.304), 14th in kills per set (2.57), and 17th in points per set (2.84). Owen Douphner remains second in assists per set (9.85), and is also 17th in digs per set (1.24) and 20th in blocks per set (0.63). Grayson Albers, who ranks 18th in blocks per set (0.66), is hitting .542 this season, which would lead the nation with enough attempts to qualify. Tusculum's Morgan Makovec is currently leading the nation at .544.
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 55-53 (.509) in his fourth season. 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 this week's home-and-home series with No. 6 UC Irvine, CSUN will close the regular season with a two-match road trip at No. 2 Hawai'i (Apr. 17-18).
#GoMatadors
