From an overtime loss in women’s water polo to decade-long records broken in track and field, this was an eventful first week of April for the CSUN sports programs.

Women’s water polo

The women’s water polo team lost in a thrilling game against 10th-ranked UCSB on Saturday, April 1, in sudden death overtime, 13-12.

The Matadors continue to struggle against Big West Conference opponents. This game left them at 0-4 in conference play.

CSUN started the game well as they scored four goals in the first quarter and shut out Santa Barbara. Sophomore Anna Pal scored two of the goals in the quarter. The Gauchos gained momentum in the second quarter, and the home team scored five goals to make the score 6-5 Matadors at the half.

In the third quarter, CSUN slowed down the UCSB offense, only giving up one goal while they added three more. Heading into the fourth, Matadors were ahead 9-6. CSUN collapsed defensively and gave up five more goals. Pal scored with five seconds remaining, tying the game and sending it into overtime. Sophomore Tatum Scarry scored a goal in the extra period, but UCSB answered, forcing the game into sudden death. It took nine seconds for the Gauchos to seal the win. CSUN fell 13-12.

Next match: Saturday, April 15 vs. UC San Diego at noon.

Men’s volleyball

The men’s volleyball team continued to fall behind as they lost their sixth straight contest, making their eight-game winning streak feel like it happened a long time ago.

Last weekend’s doubleheader against fifth-ranked UC Irvine started Friday night on the road. The Matadors were outmatched the entire game, failing to record a set victory. Redshirt junior Kyle Hobus led the Matadors in blocks and digs. CSUN tried to turn the page the following night, but again failed to win a set and suffered another 3-0 loss to Irvine. The team now stands at 12-12 on the season and 1-6 in conference play, and is fifth in a competitive Big West conference.

With three games left in the regular season, all against Big West opponents, the Matadors look to turn their luck around and finish strong before the Outrigger Big West Championship.

Next match: Friday, April 14 vs. UC Santa Barbara at 7 p.m.

Softball

The softball team hosted a three-game series against Long Beach State to start the month of April.

Game one required some late-inning scoring for the Matadors to secure the win. After being held scoreless in the first three innings and trailing 3-0 in the top of the fourth, CSUN picked up its offense and scored in each of the next three, bringing in five runs. CSUN won 5-4.

Game two was not as close as the first. Long Beach State started the game by scoring five runs to take the lead in the first inning. CSUN chipped away at the Dirtbags’ lead, scoring three runs by the fifth inning. Long Beach added one more run to make the score 6-3. The score remained the same, giving Long Beach the game two victory.

The final game of the series was highlighted by an explosive offensive by CSUN as they scored seven runs. Freshman starting pitcher Lauryn Carranco played a complete game and threw three strikeouts, while only allowing one run. CSUN won 7-1 and took the series.

Monday’s matchup saw another stellar pitching performance from the Matadors as freshman Riley Wickum went the full game. She gave up two hits and struck out eight to secure the shutout. The offense followed suit, scoring four runs on six hits to pick up the 4-0 victory.

Next game: Friday, April 14 vs. UC Davis at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

Baseball

CSUN baseball started the month of April on the right foot, going on a five-game winning streak.

Three of the wins came against UC Riverside over the weekend. The three-game sweep was accomplished by a great offensive showing and a solid pitching performance.

In game one, the Matadors scored 18 runs. Junior centerfielder Jakob Simons had five RBIs, leading the Matadors to an 18-6 victory. In game two, the Matadors continued to dominate at the plate as they scored 20 runs. Their pitchers followed up with a better showing as well, allowing only four runners to cross. CSUN won 20-4. Game three, like the previous two, was dominated by the Matadors as they won 13-7 and swept the Highlanders.

On Monday, the Matadors welcomed California Baptist. The game went back and forth until the fifth inning, when the score was 4-2 CSUN. The Matadors added eight more runs in the sixth and seventh innings and won 12-3.

Next game: Friday, April 14 at Long Beach State at 6 p.m.

Track and field

Another CSUN track and field record was broken this season in the men’s 400-meter relay, this time at the West Coast Relays in Clovis.

The four individuals who set the team record are redshirt junior David Phillips Jr., sophomore Christopher Allen and freshmen Logan Davis and James Crawford. The team ran the race in 39.68 seconds to win the event and edge out CSUN’s 13-year-old record of 39.86 seconds.

The women’s team had five top-5 finishes. Freshman Emily Hutchinson finished fourth in the shot put while junior Brianna Kelpis finished sixth in the same event. In the 100-meter race, redshirt junior Arianna Alexander crossed the finish line third and junior Charne-Lee Olkers did the same in the 100-meter hurdles. Freshman Alba Moreno Paredes tied for third in the high jump and placed fifth in the triple jump.

Next meet: Thursday-Friday, April 13-14 at the Bryan Clay Invitational.

Women’s tennis

The women’s tennis team had a conference matchup against UC Davis over the weekend. The match was close, but the Matadors were able to pull off the win 4-3.

Redshirt sophomore Yuliia Zhytelna and senior Sasha Turchak won their doubles match, but the Aggies took the other two sets of doubles. Zhytelna tied things up in the dual when she gave up only two games en route to her singles victory. CSUN further gained the lead when freshman Emma Moratalla Sanz won her singles match, but Turchak’s loss tied the dual back up.

The Matadors caught a break later in the game. Freshman Tallia Harper lost her first set and fell behind in the second one, but her opponent had to retire due to injury, giving Harper the match. Next up was the super tiebreaker. Graduate student Jolene Coetzee lost her third set 10-3 after blowing her one-set lead, but her doubles partner, freshman Angela Ho, came through to secure the fourth singles victory for the Matadors, giving them the win.

The women’s team has been playing well all year and is 14-3 on the season, with a 4-1 record in the Big West.

Next match: Friday, April 14 at Long Beach State at 2 p.m.

Men’s golf

Coming off of a third-place finish at the UCSD Invitational, the Matadors attempted to continue their season’s momentum in a positive direction at the Seattle U Redhawk Invitational.

Monday was day one of the event, and the Matadors finished 12th out of 17 competing in the first two rounds. Their scores for the first two rounds were 297 and 299, for a total of 28-over-par 596.

On Tuesday, the team shot 284, which was on par and their best score of the event. The improvement on day two moved the team from 12th into ninth place.

Next event: UC Santa Barbara Collegiate Monday-Tuesday, April 10-11 in Goleta, California.

Women’s beach volleyball

Senior day for the Matadors went according to plan as they defeated both of their opponents on Friday, March 31.

The Matadors swept Saint Katherine and San Francisco, not losing a single set in either match.

CSUN had another doubleheader the day after those victories. Saturday began in a similar fashion to Friday, as the Matadors once again swept Saint Katherine. The weekend ended on a sour note as the team lost 3-2 to Concordia-Irvine, snapping their three-game winning streak. The team is now 13-12 for the season with a .520 winning percentage.

Next match: Thursday, April 13 vs. Cal State LA at 10 a.m. and noon.