Beach Volleyball Hosts Colorado Mesa to Open 8-Match Week (2024)

CSUNvs. Long Beach State - 9a.m.
CSUN@ Sacramento State- 11 a.m.

UC Davis Beach Volleyball Courts - Davis, Calif.

Follow CSUN Matadors beach volleyball online at the official home of CSUN athletics, www.GoMatadors.com. For road matches, related links to the match, including any live stats, audio, and video, will be posted before the match on the beach volleyball schedule page of GoMatadors.com.

Fans are also encouraged to check the CSUN Athletics Department's official Twitter feed (@GoMatadors) and the beach volleyball-specific feed (@CSUNBeach) for news and notes throughout the week as well as updates of matches in progress.

Colorado Mesa (11-3)has won seven straight duals heading to Northridge on Wednesday. The Mavericks willplay a total of six matches in a span of four days, five of which will come against NCAA Division I institutions. After a pair against the Matadors on Wednesday, CMU will take onPepperdine and Concordia Irvine at Zuma Beach in Malibuon Friday before traveling to Loyola Marymount on Saturday to meetNo. 10 LMUand Tulane in the Pacific Coast Highway Invite.
Series:The two dual matches onWednesday markthe 14th and 15th matches all-time between CSUN and Colorado Mesadating back to 2016. The Matadors won the first five duals(2016-2021)before the Mavericks claimedtwo of the last three meetings,including a 3-2 win in Northridge last season.

Big West Challenge -The six Big West foes CSUN will play at this weekend's event at Sacramento State and UC Davis are a combined 60-34 on the season. No. 7 Long Beach State and No. 9 Cal Poly are both 14-2 this season and have won nine and 11 straight matches respectively. UC Davis is 9-7, Cal State Bakersfield is 9-7, and No. 12 Hawai'i is 9-8. Sac State is the only Big West school with a sub-.500 record at 5-8.

The Matadorsopened the Long Beach State Tournament last Fridaywithwins over Nebraska and Texas onFridayat the KLACBeach Volleyball Complex. CSUNdefeated the Huskers, 3-2in the morning dual before topping the Longhorns later in the day by the identical 3-2 score.In just the fourth meeting between the Matadors and Huskers, CSUN won the first three pairs to clinch the win, before Nebraska claimed the final two pairs. Then ina see-saw battle in match two, CSUN and Texas traded wins to open the dual. Julia Bazylevych and Jillian Rodig made it 2-1 CSUN with a 21-13, 23-21 winin the 5's, before Eknoian and Mae clinched the Matadors' ninth win of the season after sweeping Devin Kahahawai and Katie Hashman in the No. 2 pair, 21-19, 21-19. The Longhorns would claim the final pair as Presley Wright and Hannah Ogden went the distance to defeat Miles and Lindhardt in the No. 3 pair, 22-20, 21-23, 15-8.

On Saturday, CSUN played its first two nationally-ranked teams this season.In just the third ever meeting betweenthe Matadors are Arizona State, the 11th-ranked Sun Devils did not drop a set in sweeping all five pairs. CSUN then met No. 7 Long Beach State in the finale and theMatadors forced a three-set decision in the No. 5 pair but dropped 2-0 decisions in the other four pairs.

MATADOR BEACH NOTES

At 9-6, CSUN has matched its best start to a season since 2018. CSUN also began the 2023 season with nine wins in its first 15 duals which is the best mark since the 2018 CSUN squad was 10-5 through 15 matches...Gabriela GriegoandMayaMay Brownhave a team-best 9-6mark through 15 matches, all at the No. 1 spot. Lauren Eknoian and Tasha Mae are 7-7 at No. 2 while Abbey Sweetingand Taylor Buckley are 6-8, playing at No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5 ... Three CSUN players have nine individual wins; Griego, Brown, andJulia Bazylevych.Bazylevych is a team-best 9-5, followed by both Griego and Brown who are 6-6. Eknoian and Mae are both 8-7, while seven other Matadors have a record over .500 on the season.

CSUN BEACH VOLLEYBALL HISTORY

The Matadors are 109-118(.480) all-timein 10seasonsof beach volleyball, including a 66-36(.647) record on their home sand.After setting a program record for most wins in one season with 17 in 2018, the Matadors matched that wintotal with a 17-17 overall record in 2022 and a 17-16 record in 2023. CSUN also came within one victory of equaling the mark with a 16-12 record in 2019.

The Matadors havesteadily improved since the induction of the sport in 2014. Playing 10 matches, all on the roadin its inaugural season, CSUNfinished1-9 in 2014. The Matadors picked up their first-ever beach volleyball win on Mar. 27, 2014when CSUNdefeatedOregon (3-2)at USC's Merle Norman Stadium.

The Matadorsthen debuted their on-campus facilityin 2015,playing11 matches overall and four matches at home. CSUN'sfirst-ever home match was Mar. 5, 2015 against No. 7 UCLA. CSUNwon at home for the first time on Mar. 9 of the 2015 season when the Matadors defeated TCU, 4-1. CSUNultimatelyuppedits season win total to three culminating with a 3-8 overall season record to close the 2015 season.

The 2016 season saw the Matadors finish8-14 before falling to Cal Poly inthe third round of the Big West Tournament. CSUNthenposted an overall record of 6-12 in 2017 before winning aprogram-record with 17 times in 2018. After posting 16 wins in 2019, the 2020 season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic with the Matadors off to a 4-1 start. CSUN won 11 times in 2021, finishing with an overall record of 11-15.

BIG WEST BEACH VOLLEYBALL

The 2024 seasonnot only marks CSUN's 11th season of beach volleyball but itsninth season as a member ofthe Big West.The Matadors are 7-14all-time inthe Big West Championship since the inaugural championship in 2016. The postseason tournamentwas not held in 2020 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.

At the 2023Big West Championship, held at Queen's Beach in Hawai'i, the Matadors finished in fifth place after winning one of three matches. CSUN, seeded sixth, opened with a 3-2 loss toUC Davisbefore staving off elimination with a 3-2win over Sacramento State. The Matadors then fell to Cal Poly (3-2) in an elimination match and finished the championship with a 1-2 record.

CSUN also finished fifth at both the 2021 and 2022 Big West Championships. At Cal Poly's Swanson Beach Volleyball Complex in 2022, the Matadors opened with a 5-0 loss to Cal Poly before staving off elimination with a 4-1 win over Sacramento State. CSUN then fell to UC Davis in an elimination match and finished the championship with a 1-2 record. At Rosie's Dog Beach in 2021, the championship finished in a similar formula for the Matadors. CSUN opened with a 5-0 loss to Hawai'i before sweeping Sacramento State,5-0. The Matadors were then eliminated by CSU Bakersfield in a close 3-2 final.

The Matadorswerethe No. 4 seed in the seven-team field at the 2019 Big West Tournament at Zuma Beach in Malibu. CSUNfinished 2-2 in the championship tournament, their best showing since also finishing 2-2 in the inaugural conference tournament in 2016. After winning two of three matches on the opening day, CSUN came up empty against No. 3 seed Long BeachState on Saturday and was the fourth squad eliminated from the tournament.Cal Poly, the No. 2 seed, went undefeated in four tournament matches to capture its first conference championship along with the Big West's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. Hawai'i, the top seed coming in, finished second.

At the 2018 championship in Hawai'i, the Matadors wereseeded fourth in the six-team field in butwere upset by fifth-seeded CSU Bakersfield in the opening round (3-2). CSUN then fell toNo. 2 seed Cal Poly in an elimination match (5-0).

The Matadors were also seeded fourth at the 2017 Big West Tournament held at PismoBeach, but fell to Sacramento State (3-2) and Cal Poly (5-0) in their two tournament matches.

In 2016,CSUNwas the third seed in the inaugural conference tournament before finishing 2-2 including a close 3-2 loss to Cal Poly in a third-roundelimination match at Huntington Beach.

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