California State University Northridge Athletics
2025-26 Top CSUN Moments - Outside the Lines
7/24/2026 7:56:00 AM | General
From July 6 to August 7, GoMatadors.com will present the top CSUN Moments from the 2025-26 sports season. Today, we celebrate CSUN's milestone moments and success "Outside the Lines" during the 2025-26 academic year.
CSUN NAMES RYAN SWARTWOOD DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS
On Oct. 1, 2025, President Erika D. Beck announced the appointment of Ryan Swartwood as CSUN's 10th Director of Athletics. Swartwood returned to CSUN from the University of Alaska, Anchorage, where he has served since 2019, leading the Seawolf program as Director of Athletics since 2021. Swartwood previously served as CSUN's Associate Athletic Director for Administration from 2013 to 2018 and Interim Athletic Director in 2018.
Swartwood returned to Northridge after six-plus years at Alaska Anchorage. He joined the UAA Athletics staff as the Senior Associate Athletic Director for External Affairs in 2019 before being elevated to Director of Athletics in 2021. Under his leadership, UAA Athletics has continued to enjoy success on the national stage. Since 2019, UAA has produced 83 All-Americans, 47 individual conference champions, four individual national titles, four conference team championships, 21 Academic All-Americans, and four NCAA Elite 90 award-winners. The department achieved a 3.4 collective grade point average, and the women's gymnastics team repeated as national leader in grade point average in 2025.
Swartwood, widely respected by athletics administrators across the United States, was also instrumental in negotiating an extension of Arena Naming Rights Agreement with Alaska Airlines and a department-wide agreement with Nike. In his first stint at CSUN, Swartwood joined Matador Athletics as the Assistant Athletics Director for Administration in May 2013 and was promoted to the Associate Athletics Director for Administration in April 2015. As a member of the Athletics Senior Staff, Swartwood managed and supervised the areas of contract administration and the operation of the athletics facilities. He also had department oversight of sports medicine and sports performance, in addition to serving as the program administrator for multiple sport programs.
JORDAN LUCAS ACHIEVES VIRAL FAME
CSUN Men's Volleyball's Jordan Lucas achieved major viral fame in 2026 for his unapologetic, flamboyant on-court celebrations. Known for matching his elite athletic power with high-energy self-expression, Lucas has accumulated over 50M+ views across Instagram and TikTok.
Lucas was named the Big West Offensive Player of the Week after dropping a national season-high 30 kills, hitting .509 in an upset bid against No. 4 USC. In April 2026, Lucas became the center of a national sports conversation when comments made during the CSUN vs. UC Irvine men's volleyball live broadcast were widely condemned. Lucas's teammates, coaches, and the wider volleyball community fiercely rallied around him. Lucas used the moment to double down on his authentic style, stating that straight athletes are routinely celebrated for showing swagger and that he will never shrink himself on the court.
Lucas has transformed his viral platform into a powerful vehicle for LGBTQ+ visibility in men's sports. In June 2026, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors officially honored him with a commemorative scroll for his contributions to advancing inclusivity in athletics. Lucas went on to make numerous national and local television appearances, while also being featured in several national publications, including Sports Illustrated, The New York Times (The Athletic), ESPN, the NCAA, Outsports, People Magazine, and others.
CSUN ATHLETICS SETS NEW GPA RECORD
CSUN Athletics continued its record-setting academic performance in Fall 2025, achieving the highest cumulative GPA (3.28) in department history for the second straight semester. CSUN achieved its previous best in Spring 2025 with a department GPA of 3.25. These consecutive milestones reflect the unwavering commitment of Matador student-athletes to excellence in the classroom.
For the second semester in a row, 87% of the Matador teams earned a cumulative GPA over 3.0, with four programs reaching new academic records in Fall 2025: Baseball (3.21), Men's Track & Field/Cross Country (3.29), Women's Golf (3.69), and Women's Volleyball (3.31). Individually, Fall 2025 saw the highest number of new Student-Athletes (Freshman and Transfer students) who earned a 4.0 GPA. Overall, 254 student-athletes had a term GPA above 3.0, with 155 achieving a GPA above 3.50.
The Fall GPA is a testament to CSUN Athletics' upward trajectory in recent years. The department has posted significant improvements in the classroom each year. In 2023-24, CSUN earned a multiyear NCAA Academic Progress Rate of 985, thanks to nine of its sports programs earning a perfect score of 1,000. As a department, CSUN made vast improvements, posting a 13-point increase from a department-wide 968 in 2021-22 to 981 in the 2023-23 report.
CSUN's 11 squads that equaled or exceeded their single-year APR score from 2023 to 2024 were: men's cross country, men's golf, men's soccer, men's track & field, men's volleyball, women's cross country, women's golf, softball, tennis, women's track & field, and women's volleyball.
A team's APR accounts for eligibility, retention, and graduation to generate a measure of academic performance. Each year, the APR creates a snapshot of a team's academic success as it tracks the progress of each student-athlete on scholarship. The 2023 APR is a multiyear rate based on scores from the 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 academic years. The NCAA began tracking APR in 2004-05.
In addition, a total of 115 CSUN student-athletes who competed for the Matadors in 2025-25 were honored for their work in the classroom and in athletic competition as members of the three Big West Academic All-Conference Teams (Fall, Winter, Spring).
#GoMatadors
CSUN NAMES RYAN SWARTWOOD DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS
On Oct. 1, 2025, President Erika D. Beck announced the appointment of Ryan Swartwood as CSUN's 10th Director of Athletics. Swartwood returned to CSUN from the University of Alaska, Anchorage, where he has served since 2019, leading the Seawolf program as Director of Athletics since 2021. Swartwood previously served as CSUN's Associate Athletic Director for Administration from 2013 to 2018 and Interim Athletic Director in 2018.
Swartwood returned to Northridge after six-plus years at Alaska Anchorage. He joined the UAA Athletics staff as the Senior Associate Athletic Director for External Affairs in 2019 before being elevated to Director of Athletics in 2021. Under his leadership, UAA Athletics has continued to enjoy success on the national stage. Since 2019, UAA has produced 83 All-Americans, 47 individual conference champions, four individual national titles, four conference team championships, 21 Academic All-Americans, and four NCAA Elite 90 award-winners. The department achieved a 3.4 collective grade point average, and the women's gymnastics team repeated as national leader in grade point average in 2025.
Swartwood, widely respected by athletics administrators across the United States, was also instrumental in negotiating an extension of Arena Naming Rights Agreement with Alaska Airlines and a department-wide agreement with Nike. In his first stint at CSUN, Swartwood joined Matador Athletics as the Assistant Athletics Director for Administration in May 2013 and was promoted to the Associate Athletics Director for Administration in April 2015. As a member of the Athletics Senior Staff, Swartwood managed and supervised the areas of contract administration and the operation of the athletics facilities. He also had department oversight of sports medicine and sports performance, in addition to serving as the program administrator for multiple sport programs.
JORDAN LUCAS ACHIEVES VIRAL FAME
CSUN Men's Volleyball's Jordan Lucas achieved major viral fame in 2026 for his unapologetic, flamboyant on-court celebrations. Known for matching his elite athletic power with high-energy self-expression, Lucas has accumulated over 50M+ views across Instagram and TikTok.
Lucas was named the Big West Offensive Player of the Week after dropping a national season-high 30 kills, hitting .509 in an upset bid against No. 4 USC. In April 2026, Lucas became the center of a national sports conversation when comments made during the CSUN vs. UC Irvine men's volleyball live broadcast were widely condemned. Lucas's teammates, coaches, and the wider volleyball community fiercely rallied around him. Lucas used the moment to double down on his authentic style, stating that straight athletes are routinely celebrated for showing swagger and that he will never shrink himself on the court.
Lucas has transformed his viral platform into a powerful vehicle for LGBTQ+ visibility in men's sports. In June 2026, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors officially honored him with a commemorative scroll for his contributions to advancing inclusivity in athletics. Lucas went on to make numerous national and local television appearances, while also being featured in several national publications, including Sports Illustrated, The New York Times (The Athletic), ESPN, the NCAA, Outsports, People Magazine, and others.
CSUN ATHLETICS SETS NEW GPA RECORD
CSUN Athletics continued its record-setting academic performance in Fall 2025, achieving the highest cumulative GPA (3.28) in department history for the second straight semester. CSUN achieved its previous best in Spring 2025 with a department GPA of 3.25. These consecutive milestones reflect the unwavering commitment of Matador student-athletes to excellence in the classroom.
For the second semester in a row, 87% of the Matador teams earned a cumulative GPA over 3.0, with four programs reaching new academic records in Fall 2025: Baseball (3.21), Men's Track & Field/Cross Country (3.29), Women's Golf (3.69), and Women's Volleyball (3.31). Individually, Fall 2025 saw the highest number of new Student-Athletes (Freshman and Transfer students) who earned a 4.0 GPA. Overall, 254 student-athletes had a term GPA above 3.0, with 155 achieving a GPA above 3.50.
The Fall GPA is a testament to CSUN Athletics' upward trajectory in recent years. The department has posted significant improvements in the classroom each year. In 2023-24, CSUN earned a multiyear NCAA Academic Progress Rate of 985, thanks to nine of its sports programs earning a perfect score of 1,000. As a department, CSUN made vast improvements, posting a 13-point increase from a department-wide 968 in 2021-22 to 981 in the 2023-23 report.
CSUN's 11 squads that equaled or exceeded their single-year APR score from 2023 to 2024 were: men's cross country, men's golf, men's soccer, men's track & field, men's volleyball, women's cross country, women's golf, softball, tennis, women's track & field, and women's volleyball.
A team's APR accounts for eligibility, retention, and graduation to generate a measure of academic performance. Each year, the APR creates a snapshot of a team's academic success as it tracks the progress of each student-athlete on scholarship. The 2023 APR is a multiyear rate based on scores from the 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 academic years. The NCAA began tracking APR in 2004-05.
In addition, a total of 115 CSUN student-athletes who competed for the Matadors in 2025-25 were honored for their work in the classroom and in athletic competition as members of the three Big West Academic All-Conference Teams (Fall, Winter, Spring).
#GoMatadors
Friday, February 13
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Thursday, December 11
Thursday, December 11