MATADORS THIS WEEK
JC/RAMON CALDERON CUP:
CSUN vs. Ventura College
CSUN vs. Long Beach City College
Friday, Feb. 23, 2018 - 11:00 a.m./3:00 p.m.
Matador Beach Volleyball Facility - Northridge, Calif.
CSUN vs. El Camino College
CSUN vs. Moorpark College
Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018 - 11:00 a.m./3:00 p.m.
Matador Beach Volleyball Facility - Northridge, Calif.
In-game Twitter updates: @CSUNWVB
FOR STARTERS
The CSUN Matadors open their fifth season of beach volleyball this Friday (Feb. 23), hosting a series of exhibition matches as part of the annual JC/Ramon Calderon Cup.
CSUN will host Ventura College (11 a.m.) and Long Beach City College (3 p.m.) on Friday followed by matches against El Camino College (11 a.m.) and Moorpark College (3 p.m.) on Saturday. The 2018 season officially gets underway Wednesday, Feb. 28 as the Matadors host Vanguard University at 1 p.m.
FOLLOW YOUR MATADORS ONLINE
Follow CSUN Matadors beach volleyball on-line at the official home of CSUN athletics, www.GoMatadors.com. For road matches, related links to the match, including for 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 (@CSUNWVB) for news and notes throughout the week as well as updates of matches in progress.
BIG WEST BEACH VOLLEYBALL
This season marks CSUN's third season a a member of the Big West Conference in beach volleyball. The Matadors were seeded fourth at the 2017 Big West Tournament held at Pismo Beach, but fell to Sacramento State (3-2) and Cal Poly (5-0) in their two tournament matches.
In 2016, CSUN was the third seed in the conference tournament and the Matadors finished 2-2 including a close 3-2 loss to Cal Poly in a third round elimination match at Huntington Beach. The 2018 Big West Tournament is scheduled for Apr. 27-29 in Honolulu, Hawai'i.
CSUN BEACH VOLLEYBALL HISTORY
The Matadors have steadily improved since the induction of the sport in 2014. Playing 10 matches, all on the road in its inaugural season, CSUN finished 1-9 in 2014. The Matadors picked up their first-ever beach volleyball win on Mar. 27, 2014 when CSUN defeated Oregon (3-2) at USC's Merle Norman Stadium.
The Matadors then debuted their on-campus facility in 2015, playing 11 matches overall and four matches at home. CSUN's first-ever home match was Mar. 5, 2015 against No. 7 UCLA, the Matadors falling 4-1. CSUN won at home for the first time on Mar. 9 of the 2015 season when the Matadors defeated TCU 4-1. CSUN ultimately upped their season win total to three culminating with a 3-8 season.
CSUN's 2016 season was its most successful to date as the Matadors finished 8-14 before falling to Cal Poly in the third round of the Big West Tournament. Last season, CSUN posted an overall record of 6-14.
LEIPHARDT/WILLIAMS EARN ALL-BIG WEST HONORS
Senior Maddie Leiphardt and Nickeisha Williams became the third CSUN duo to earn Big West Beach Volleyball All-Conference honors as the Matador pair was named second team in 2017.
The pair finished the season tied for the CSUN lead with nine wins. Playing in the No. 2 spot in the Matador lineup, Leiphardt and Williams won its first three matches of the season and was 6-2 after defeating Sacramento State on Apr. 1. After close losses to nationally-ranked Cal Poly, Long Beach State and Hawai'i, the duo then won three straight matches over CSU Bakersfield, Cal State LA and Concordia.
In its first season in the Big West (2016), CSUN's Leiphardt and Julie Haake were named second team while Katie Sato and Lauren Conati were named honorable mention.
MATADOR OUTLOOK
First-year head beach volleyball coach Noelle Rooke welcomes back nine players from 2017 in addition to senior Lauren Conati who sat out the 2017 season due to an injury. New to the roster in 2018 is Shawnee De Oliveira and Lauren McMurray, CSUN's first-ever beach only freshman player.
The pair of Aeryn Owens and Erin Indermill led the Matadors last season with a 9-6 record, including a 7-5 record at No. 3 and a 2-1 record at No. 4. Leiphardt and Williams finished 9-8, all in the No. 2 position.
Daniella Molinari and Cassidy Rosso also finished the 2017 season with a winning record (4-4) while the pair of Owens and Autum Russell finished 1-1 in just two pairings. Russell teamed up with Kristey Markle for much of the season, posting a 6-10 record, 4-8 at No. 4 and 2-2 at No. 3.
Nicolette Pinkney posted a 6-12 record playing alongside departed senior Nicoletta Stork while Katie Sato finished the season 5-13 (5-12 at No. 1) paired with 2017 senior Julie Haake.
Including four exhibition matches to open the 2018 season, the Matadors will will set a new program record by playing 29 matches this season prior to the 2018 Big West Tournament.
"Although we have a more challenging schedule in terms of the amount of matches we are playing, I'm thrilled for the opportunity our student-athletes have to play against programs similar to ours," said Rooke. "The majority of our 2018 schedule is made up of teams that have dual sport athletes who play both beach and indoor volleyball."
The regular season gets underway with a five-match homestand beginning Feb. 28 as the Matadors host Vanguard University. CSUN will also host CSU Bakersfield and Long Beach State in a tri-dual on Mar. 3 before concluding the homestand with a tri-dual against Concordia-Irvine and Cal State Los Angeles on Mar. 8.
The Matadors will then head to Santa Cruz for the Big West/West Coast Conference Challenge on Mar. 10 as CSUN will take on San Francisco. Portland and Pacific on the Beach Boardwalk.
The Matadors return to Northridge for three tri-duals over the next 12 days, hosting Colorado Mesa and Missouri State on Mar. 14, Cal State Los Angeles and Washington on Mar. 21 and Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine on Mar. 22.
Next up is the inaugural Big West Challenge that will see CSUN take on Cal Poly, Hawai'i. CSU Bakersfield, Long Beach State and Sacramento State over two days in Sacramento.
The final homestand of the season features tri-duals against Vanguard and Concordia-Irvine on Apr. 5 and CSU Bakersfield and Loyola Marymount on Apr. 12. The regular season concludes with a tri-dual against CSU Bakersfield and Vanguard in Bakersfield on Apr. 21.
The conference championship tournament, in its third season, will take place April 27-29 in Honolulu, Hawai'i after the first two Big West Tournaments were held in Huntington Beach (2016) and Pismo Beach (2017).
#GoMatadors
