CSUN beach volleyball continues win streak with impressive weekend showing
Sara Ostojic, left, and Seyvion Waggoner, right, watch as Lexi McLeod, center, keeps the ball in play during a tri-dual against the Concordia-Irvine Eagles and the St. Katherine Firebirds on Saturday, April 3, 2021. The Matadors won 3-2 against the Eagles and 5-0 against the Firebirds.
April 7, 2021
The Matadors (9-9) evened their record on the season when they faced off against Concordia UniversityIrvine and University of Saint Katherine. In the first game of the day, CSUN took on Concordia-Irvine.
The Matadors’ Lauren McMurray and Kailey Klein swept Kya Bock and Marina Pilkington in consecutive sets 21-17 and 21-19.
CSUN went up 2-0 when Lexi McLeod and Seyvion Waggoner earned a victory against Nickie Hughes and Sara Ostojic, 21-19, 19-21, 15-8.
CSUN jumped out early first with a 21-19 win, but the experienced Concordia-Irvine team fought back with a reverse of the first match with a 19-21 win.
The game went to a third and final set. Both teams traded early wins before CSUN’s McLeod and Waggoner eventually pulled away with a 15-8 win in the final set.
The Matadors clinched the duel when CSUN’s Darbi Honeycutt and Mikaela Maughan swept Concordia-Irvine’s Mia Corippo and Hailee Ryan, 21-12, 21-15.
CSUN head coach Noelle Rooke was thoroughly impressed with her team’s fight and grit.
“We showed growth and maturity in our match play today,” she told CSUN Athletics. “Our first task of the day was to reverse the outcome from three weeks ago and we did just that with a 3-2 victory over CUI, a very seasoned program with a lot of depth.”
CSUN then took on St. Katherine to close out the day. In a dominant showing, The Matadors did not drop a single set against the Firebirds.
McLeod and Waggoner continued their hot streak as they beat Angelica Leuluai and Savannah Minshew, 21-11, 21-7. CSUN clinched the victory with Honeycutt and Maughan’s sweep of Sami Jones and Ashlyn Ferriera.
“[This] was a great way to finish a long weekend. We will now get back to work to prepare for two ranked opponents next weekend,’ said Rooke.
The Matadors will return to the Beach Volleyball Complex from April 9-10 when they take on Grand Canyon University.