e s i R e W r he
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2015-16 CSUN Athletics Annual Report
e s i R
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Matador Family,
Together We Rise has not just been our student-athletes’ mantra this year; it’s been the driving message for our entire CSUN Athletics family. And together, we’ve had a strong year. We’ve excelled academically, with more student-athletes than ever before qualifying for our annual Varsity N Academic Athletics Honor Roll. We also created the Matador Scholar-Athlete Honor Society to reinforce the importance of academic excellence all year long and added new academic resources for our student-athletes, from expanded tutorial support and study hall to technological tools like iPads and laptops. In competition, Matadors excelled in the pool, on the court, on the course and on the field. Dozens of student-athletes were honored as players of the week by the Big West Conference and other governing bodies, and our 19 teams each achieved significant growth milestones, including several student-athletes advancing to NCAA post-season competition. We broke many CSUN records and laid the groundwork for next year’s successes. On the business side, it was an incredibly productive year for my staff and I. In support of our core value of service, we created the Matador Heroes initiative to honor leaders for their hard work in our community, a program that will continue next year. We also added 800 new seats to The Matadome and improved our gameday fan experience, leading to a packed house for men’s basketball games, and launched the CSUN Sports Network, a full multimedia content network that encompasses live game video and audio broadcasts, feature productions and the exclusive “Behind the Cape” web series. This year, we signed a groundbreaking new partnership with Under Armour, making the brand our official outfitter and supplier in an exciting deal that will impact all 19 sport programs. CSUN Baseball alumnus Irv Zakheim also gave a significant gift of $1.5M to CSUN Athletics to fund renovations to Matador Field. His generous lead gift will start the first of multiple projects that will modernize our baseball facilities. All Matadors rose together this year, and I’m not only proud of the significant progress we’ve made but excited about the future. As we reflect on the past season and look forward to the next one, remember that we will continue to rise together as Matadors.
Dr. Brandon E. Martin Director of Intercollegiate Athletics
Mission In alignment with the mission of CSUN:
We empower our student-athletes and staff to achieve comprehensive excellence. We provide a diverse and inclusive educational experience for all members of our department and campus community. We engage and partner with the greater San Fernando Valley to make CSUN rise.
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Six core values guide and govern our actions at all times:
Service
We approach all our relationships with a spirit of service.
Accountability
We are personally accountable for our actions and are thoughtful with the use of our resources.
Discovery
We are continuously learning and growing. Education is the cornerstone of our decision making.
Diversity & Inclusion
We strive for diversity in opinion and background. We look to include all voices in advancing our department.
Sportsmanship
We conduct ourselves with character, on and off the field.
Integrity
We know the right thing to do is the only thing to do.
Core Values
Academic Accomplishments and Student-Athlete Development n1 00 student-athletes were
named to their respective AllAcademic Teams by the Big West Conference or the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF).
n9 5 student-athletes were
inducted into the Varsity N Academic Athletics Honor Roll, the most ever, with 57 new inductees and 38 repeat honorees.
nM aylynn Mitchell (Softball) was
named a 2015 Big West Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
nS hane Steffes (Men’s Soccer)
was named a 2015 Big West Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
nM adalyne Handy (Softball)
won the 2016 Dick Enberg Post-Graduate Scholarship for Academic Excellence, and she will continue her education while pursuing a Master’s in Public Health.
nC SUN Athletics hosted eight
faculty breakfasts for studentathletes in specific programs and majors, allowing Matadors to informally network with their professors and advisors.
nT he women’s golf team hosted
CSUN faculty at its inaugural “Practice with Professors” event, which encouraged student-athlete networking with professors.
nT he Matador Achievement Center
enhanced academic support programs to include a full-time Learning Specialist, study hall, expanded tutorial support and road competition support.
nT he Matador Achievement Center
Polo) was nominated for the NCAA post-graduate fellowship.
was recognized by CSUN’s Department of Disability Resource and Educational Services for adding focus to learning styles and learning differences.
nM itchell was nominated for the
nA s a result of NCAA Accelerating
nN atalie Averell (Women’s Water
NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
nT he following sports received
a perfect 1,000 single-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) score: Men’s Cross Country Men’s Golf Women’s Basketball Women’s Golf Women’s Tennis
nC SUN Athletics launched the
Matador Scholar-Athlete Honor Society this year for studentathletes who achieve Dean’s List honors (3.5 GPA or higher) each semester; 49 studentathletes were honored in the fall, including four with perfect 4.0 GPAs, and 84 in the spring, including 11 with 4.0s.
nC SUN Athletics created The
Matador Connection to help mentor student-athletes; Its Peer to Peer Transition Program supports student-athletes new to CSUN and the Beyond the First Year Program provides career and
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educational workshops. Events this year included an Ice Cream Social and an Alumni Networking Night.
Academic Success Program (AASP) and National Urban Alliance (NUA) grants over the past three years, CSUN Athletics improved student-athlete access to laptops, iPads and other tools, improved the advisor to studentathlete ratio and executed the CSUN Student-Athlete Summer Success Program.
nT he second CSUN Student-
Athlete Summer Success Program helped 23 new studentathletes transition to life at CSUN through a six-week program that focused on academics, campus resources, community outreach and more. It led to an increase in participant GPA, student-athlete retention and passage rates.
In addition to Varsity N and the Student-Athlete Honor Society Breakfasts, CSUN Athletics hosts several events for student-athletes each year: nW elcome Back Event - All CSUN student-ath-
letes celebrated the start of the fall semester by gathering in The Matadome. They enjoyed dinner and spent time getting to know new freshmen and transfer students before watching a CSUN women’s soccer game.
nF reshman Convocation – Every year, CSUN
student-athletes greet new CSUN students as they parade to Freshman Convocation. This year, more than 300 student-athletes passed out “Matty-gras” beads and created a high five tunnel to cheer on campus newcomers as they processed to their seats.
nN ational Student-Athlete Week - CSUN Athletics
celebrated National Student-Athlete Week on campus by honoring student-athletes on GoMatadors.com, focusing on community service and academic achievement. The week culminated with a ceremonial first pitch at a CSUN baseball game by members of SAAC.
nR ecognizing Intercollegiate Student-Athlete
Excellence Awards – At the second annual RISE Awards, the Matadors honored student-athletes in 11 categories as voted upon by their fellow-student athletes, with categories including Male and Female Enterprise Comprehensive Excellence Awards (Student-Athletes of the Year), Coach of the Year, the Champion’s Award and the Matador Team Spirit Award. The gala event is a student-athlete favorite.
nS enior Sash Ceremony – The Matadors celebrat-
ed 66 graduating student-athletes at this year’s Senior Sash. At the annual event, graduates receive their Senior Sashes, sport medallions, a red rose, a Matador portfolio and complimentary membership in the M Club before toasting to their graduation and taking a group photo at the Matador Statue.
Student-Athlete Events CSUN Athletics 2015-16 Annual Report
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Community Service nC SUN student-athletes committed
50 hours to the Granada Hills Elementary Reading Program, visiting with second graders every week during the school year.
nT hrough MEND Adopt-a-Family, the
Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) raised almost $1,000 for meals and holiday gifts for families in need.
nA group of CSUN freshman student-
athletes helped clean up campus and the neighborhood in the first ever Matador Day of Service event, which was planned by the Matador Involvement Center and hosted by United We Serve.
nS tudent-athletes enrolled in the
Student-Athlete Summer Success Program, along with SAAC members, volunteered as “Fans in the Stands” at the 2015 Special Olympics World Games.
nC SUN Athletics helped CSUN host a
Special Olympics World Games host town event at the Matador Track & Field Complex, with featured speakers including Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Dr. Brandon Martin, Women’s Volleyball Head Coach and Olympian Jeff Stork and Associate Athletic Director and Olympian Dawn Ellerbe Crawford.
nC SUN student-athletes raised
$731.44 during the Big West Coin Drive to benefit CSUN’s Brown Center of Achievement through Adaptive Physical Activity.
nC SUN student-athletes collected
nearly 1,000 pledges for the “It’s On Us” campaign to end sexual violence at home games and other campus events. CSUN Athletics also produced and showed a PSA promoting the campaign at all games in The Matadome and “It’s On Us” T-shirts were given to fans who took the pledge at a men’s basketball game as part of the Matador T-shirt Series.
nT he baseball team was awarded the
William Watkins Community Service Award at the annual RISE Awards in recognition of more than 1,400 hours giving back to the community. Team members volunteered at the Malibu Nautica Triathlon benefitting Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, the Northridge Hospital Childrens Center,
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Miller Children’s and Women’s Hospital Long Beach, with the Northridge Little League and more. nT he baseball team also hosted the
second annual All Sports Day kids clinic for community children.
nT he women’s soccer team volun-
teered at the Good Shepherd Women’s Shelter throughout the year and made a monetary donation to the facility. The team fundraised to purchase supplies for the center, helped sort clothes and toys, built shelves, cooked breakfasts and facilitated activities for the children’s center.
nS AAC also hosted a clothing drive
benefiting the Good Shepherd Women’s Shelter at all home games during April as the Matadors celebrated National Student-Athlete Week.
nT he softball team volunteered at the
YMCA in Porter Ranch, helping feed Thanksgiving dinners to families in need.
nT he men’s volleyball team
hosted Chatsworth High School’s Community Based Instruction Intellectual Disability and Autism Spectrum Program in The Matadome in November, and also spent a day picking oranges at CSUN’s Orange Grove this spring to help feed local families through the non-profit Food Forward.
nT he men’s golf and women’s tennis
teams spent an afternoon volunteering at the Children’s Hunger Fund headquarters and distribution center based in Sylmar, packaging food for families in Baja, CA. The teams packed a total of 1,200 bags of macaroni, which went towards feeding 4,800 individuals.
nT he women’s golf team ran in and
volunteered making food at the Dog Haus Run Club charity 5k in Pasadena in October and also volunteered at the College Challenge Charity Golf Tournament at Wilshire Country Club.
nH ead Men’s Basketball Coach Reggie
Theus helped prepare more than 60 Special Olympics World Games athletes from Jamaica for competition when he spoke to them at Inglewood’s Host Town sendoff event leading into the games.
New Hires & Promotions nE rika Baron was hired as Adminis-
trative Support Coordinator.
nL aShandra Batiste was hired as
Learning Specialist.
nA manda Bermejo was hired as
Health Insurance Coordinator.
nA shley Davis was hired as Execu-
tive Assistant for Intercollegiate Athletics.
nD erek Hanks was hired as Assis-
tant Coach, Women’s Soccer.
nS ean James was hired as Academ-
ic Advisor.
nT eiana Jones was hired as Senior
Associate Athletic Director, Academic Services.
nT im Lanski was hired as Associate
Athletic Director, Compliance.
nA shley Letrich was hired as Assis-
tant Coach, Women’s Water Polo.
nN oelle Rooke was hired as Assis-
tant Coach, Women’s Volleyball and Beach Volleyball.
nS am Salinas was hired as Assistant
Events Manager.
nS amantha Sheeley was hired as
Assistant Coach, Softball.
nD anny Spiegel was hired as Associ-
ate Athletic Director, Development.
nV ictoria Sun was hired as Director
of Basketball Operations, Men’s Basketball.
n J eff Theiler was hired as Assistant
Coach, Men’s Basketball.
nE ric Werskey was hired as Assis-
tant Coach, Men’s and Women’s Track & Field.
nC risti Allen was promoted to Aca-
demic Advisor.
nL indsey Schantz was promoted to
Academic Advisor.
CSUN Athletics 2015-16 Annual Report
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Corporate Sponsorships n CSUN Athletics entered into a department-
wide, multi-year partnership worth $1.1 million with Under Armour, the global leader in performance footwear and apparel, naming the brand the exclusive outfitter and supplier of CSUN Athletics.
n CSUN Athletics became Under Armour’s
first public institution partner on the West Coast and its first Big West Conference non-football partner.
n Under Armour will provide all 19
intercollegiate sports with official athletics apparel, footwear, accessories, sports equipment and connected fitness equipment for the term of the relationship.
n CSUN Athletics and Menchie’s Granada
Hills extended their partnership for three years, making Menchie’s Granada Hills an exclusive promotional partner of CSUN Athletics in the frozen desert category and the title sponsor of the Menchie’s Matador Kids Club.
n CSUN Athletics and Airtel Plaza Hotel
entered into a three-year partnership agreement, giving the hotel signage in The Matadome, in-game promotion at men’s and women’s basketball games and logo placement in CSUN Athletics print materials and on gomatadors.com.
n CSUN Athletics worked with partner In-N-
Out Burger to sponsor a series of “In-N-Out Doubleheader” promotions, where fans received special giveaways courtesy of In-N-Out at men’s and women’s basketball doubleheaders.
n CSUN Athletics entered into a three-year
partnership agreement with Porter Valley Country Club (PVCC), providing the country club with signage in The Matadome, in-game promotion at men’s basketball games, public address reads and access to hospitality events and areas.
n CSUN Athletics signed Meridian Pointe
Apartments as a new partner, making it the exclusive preferred off-campus housing development of CSUN Athletics.
n CSUN Athletics renewed its partnership
with the Los Angeles Daily News giving it signage at all events in The Matadome and at outdoor competition venues, public address announcements at all home games and logo placement on gomatadors.com and on CSUN Athletics’ print collateral.
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n Attendance at men’s basketball games in 2015-16 increased
by 19%, baseball by 14% and men’s soccer by 6%.
n CSUN Athletics added upgrades to the men’s basketball
season ticket package, which led to a 7% increase in season ticket sales.
n The Matadors improved Spirit Team (CSUN Dance, Cheer
and Band) and Matty the Matador presentation, game performances and external appearances.
n CSUN’s basketball student ticket allotment increased to 800
per game due to increased demand.
n The Matadors improved the home game fan experience to
feature new promotions, giveaways and partner activations at events, particularly in The Matadome.
n CSUN Athletics launched the Matador T-shirt series, which
included six T-shirt giveaways at men’s and women’s basketball home games.
n The Matadors created the Matador Passport series in
the spring, which encompassed a weekend’s worth of promotions and increased attendance at four sports’ home games.
n CSUN Athletics partnered with The University Corporation
on numerous fan events, including Volleyball Neon Nights, Matty-gras bead giveaways, baseball and softball pennant giveaways and “Get the Hale Outta Here” men’s basketball promotional items for Senior Day.
n CSUN Athletics launched the Matador Heroes initiative,
which honored community leaders at home games throughout the winter and showcased their community programs.
n The Committee on Athletics and Student Engagement
(CASE) planned 13 events across eight sports this year to support student engagement with athletics, bringing more than 11,000 fans to games, with promotions including: n First Responders Night at Men’s Soccer in collaboration
with Police Services
n Spirit Nights involving parades from CSUN Housing n Creation of printed Matador ‘event cards’ in collaboration
with CSUN Dining, Student Housing, Red Rally, Associated Students and the Matador Band that helped promote ‘Mataspeak’ language on campus
n Fan Fare pre-game events for three sports n Men’s Basketball “Pack the House” night n Other community and campus engagement events included: n A Read to Lead panel discussion, featuring men’s
basketball head coach Reggie Theus, about leadership philosophies and books that influence campus leaders
n Matatude Tuesday campus-wide fan spirit days
Marketing CSUN Athletics 2015-16 Annual Report
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CSUN Sports Network n CSUN Athletics officially
launched the CSUN Sports Network, transitioning MatadorTV to a full multimedia content network that creates and showcases extensive video content, encompassing live game video and audio broadcasts, feature productions and an exclusive web series.
n CSUN Athletics expanded live
game productions to include men’s and women’s soccer, baseball and softball, in addition to men’s and women’s basketball and men’s and women’s volleyball.
n The CSUN Sports Network
streamed 72 live games in 2015-16, by far the most since the creation of the program in 2012.
n The CSUN Sports Network
produced nearly 75 video segments this year, featuring highlights, interviews and more.
n CSUN Athletics hired five new
broadcasters to announce live audio and video streams: n Decorated longtime Dodger
broadcaster Ross Porter (Baseball)
n Accomplished radio and
play-by-play broadcaster Brandon Marcus (Baseball and Softball)
n CSUN alum Eduard
Cauich, an experienced MLS broadcaster and the current Sports Editor at Hoy Los Ángeles (Men’s Soccer Spanish-language Broadcast)
n CSUN alum Jose Ávalos,
a veteran radio and TV personality who can be seen on EstrellaTV’s national newscast (Men’s Soccer Spanish-language Broadcast)
n Established NBA and college
broadcaster Mark Roberts (Women’s Basketball)
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n The CSUN Sports Network aired
a live video stream of the final round of the Big West Men’s Golf Championship.
n The CSUN Sports Network
launched “Behind the Cape,” an exclusive web series featuring exclusive interviews, highlights, analysis and feature stories about on and off-field events. n The initial two episodes had
more than 20,000 views through the end of June 2016.
n The CSUN Sports Network
student production crew grew to more than 40 students.
n On BigWest.TV video streams,
CSUN games averaged 376 viewers per broadcast and viewers spent a total of 10,193 hours watching CSUN events. The most-viewed game featured almost 2,000 viewers.
n In addition to video streams,
the CSUN Sports Network produced live audio broadcasts for all men’s basketball games, all women’s basketball home games and Big West competitions with the exception of Hawai’i, all home baseball games and select road series, most home softball games and six men’s soccer home games.
n CSUN Sports Network
basketball audio broadcasts in The Matadome featured live interviews with studentathletes, allowing CSUN Athletics to cross-promote sports and student-athletes.
n CSUN Sports Network audio-
only broadcasts averaged 160 listeners per game, with the most-listened-to game featuring 760 fans.
n The CSUN Sports Network
production staff partnered with Learfield and the CSUN Athletics Marketing Department to provide an integral piece of The Matadome fan experience through live videoboards and event production.
Digital n CSUN Athletics transitioned
to a new website provider, SIDEARM Sports, and relaunched GoMatadors. com with an updated look and feel, enhanced content sections, highlighted social media content and in-depth statistics, game recaps, bios, schedules, rosters and more.
n In addition to CSUN Sports
Network video content, GoMatadors.com featured increased editorial content about the Matadors’ on and off-field events, with feature stories about student-athletes, photo galleries and event recaps.
n The Matadors grew total
social media followers for all official Matador accounts and expanded social media profiles for teams to include
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. n Overall CSUN Athletics
Twitter followers increased by 48%.
n Overall CSUN Athletics
Instagram followers increased by 33%.
n CSUN Athletics launched
the Spanish-language social media handle @VamosCSUN.
n The Matadors implemented
social media best practices and workshops for studentathletes.
n CSUN Athletics partnered
with CSUN’s journalism and marketing departments, and Agency 398, to launch The Cape Crew social media command team, which created a new fan-focused social media handle
(@CSUNCapeCrew) to better connect with fans, studentathletes and CSUN students. n CSUN Athletics expanded into
Snapchat and Periscope and launched a CSUN Athletics Snapchat geofilter.
n The Matadors redesigned,
relaunched and grew the CSUN Athletics Mobile App, which led to hundreds of new downloads.
n CSUN Athletics launched the
bi-weekly Matador Report e-newsletter, which features top GoMatadors.com stories, upcoming home events, promotions and ticket and donation information.
n GoMatadors.com had 2.6
million page views from July 2015 to end of May 2016, with 1.8 million unique pageviews.
Communications
n CSUN Athletics garnered
extensive local and national media coverage in print, online, on TV and on the radio in sports, business, academic and general market outlets, with coverage including: n A front page, above-the-fold
story in the LA Times
n Weekly coverage in the LA
Daily News
n Frequent coverage in the San
Fernando Valley Sun/El Sol
n Several feature business
stories in the San Fernando Valley Business Journal
n A week of promotional
segments on AM 570 LA Sports
n Feature stories in HOY and
the Rafu Shimpo
n Coverage in the NACDA Daily
Review, Sports Business Journal and The Chronicle of Higher Education
n CSUN Athletics added two
photography interns, expanding the department’s on and off the field photography capabilities.
n CSUN Athletics published
full-color gameday programs for Men’s and Women’s Volleyball, Basketball and Soccer, Baseball and Softball, as well as numerous other print publications.
n CSUN Athletics worked with
ESPN, FOX Sports and the Pac12 Network on 20 televised games
efficient live stats at home games.
n CSUN Communications
implemented a media training program for teams, as well as for incoming freshman, that includes a video presentation and hands on training by athletics personnel.
n The Matadors hosted two
groups from the Journalism Associate of Community Colleges (JACC) at athletic events as part of the JACC’s annual convention. More than 100 junior college reporters and photographers spent time at a CSUN baseball game and a beach volleyball practice for convention competitions.
n The Matadors transitioned most
in-game stats to an upgraded platform, allowing for more
CSUN Athletics 2015-16 Annual Report
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Development n CSUN Athletics raised more than $2.6
million during the 2015-16 fiscal year.
n The total amount of fundraised dollars has
increased 119% since 2014 and 566% in a five-year period, and alumni are giving to athletics at a substantially increasing rate.
n Major gifts this year have included: n $1.5M from alumnus Irv Zakheim ’71
as a lead gift to fund renovations to Matador Field, helping fund a renovated entryway to the baseball stadium, the first of multiple projects that will modernize a complex that is more than 50 years old
n $400,000 to fund a soccer team room
project
n $250,000 to the Sports Medicine
department to fund a satellite athletic training facility that will service the healthcare needs of CSUN’s outdoor sports
n $150,000 from Union Bank to create
the Union Bank Hospitality Suite in The Matadome, the Union Bank Fueling Station and Union Bank Student-Athlete Financial Literacy Initiative
n $100,000 to fund the “DeYoung
Family Women’s Volleyball Locker Room,” which will feature extensive enhancements that will improve the student-athlete experience
n $50,000 towards the development of the
CSUN Baseball program
n Athletics Development in the past year has
increased connections with the alumni and community, growing membership in the M Club (student-athlete alumni) and Matador Kids Club.
n Athletics Development has worked with
women’s golf, baseball and men’s golf on annual golf tournaments to raise funds for their teams.
n CSUN Athletics grew hospitality events at
home competitions through collaborations with community organizations, donors and campus partners.
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n CSUN Athletics added an Assistant
Events Manager to assist with gameday procedures.
n CSUN Athletics established a protocol for
crowd flow and sellout crowds utilizing the new upper level seats in The Matadome.
n CSUN Athletics created procedures for
overflow media in The Matadome.
n CSUN Athletics improved
gameday procedures for baseball and VIP Hospitality setup.
n CSUN Athletics coordinated and completed
a training session with campus police and event staff on Matadome and outdoor venue emergency evacuation procedures.
n CSUN Athletics home events included 61
competitions at CSUN venues in 30 days in March.
n CSUN Athletics hosted the Big West
Conference Men’s Golf Tournament at Wood Ranch Country Club.
n CSUN Athletics assisted with almost 100
ESPN, Fox Sports and CSUN Sports Network broadcasts, the most ever.
Event Management CSUN Athletics 2015-16 Annual Report
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Sports Performance & Sports Medicine n The Sports Medicine and Sports
Performance Departments have collaborated to communicate consistently with coaches, which together with advancements in technology has allowed the departments to make a real impact on injury prevention and performance across the board.
n Overall this year, there was a 22%
reduction in total injury maintenance encounters and a 14% decrease in surgical procedures performed.
n The Sports Medicine Department added
a fifth full-time certified athletic trainer to its staff, improving the department’s efficiency and expanding its breadth of services.
n The Sports Performance Department
added a graduate assistant this year, which helped the department provide stronger service to student-athletes than ever before.
n The Sports Medicine Department received
a major gift of $250,000, which will help fund a satellite athletic training facility that will service the healthcare needs of CSUN’s outdoor sports.
n The Sports Medicine and Sports
Performance Departments collaborated to implement a knee injury prevention program for the men’s and women’s soccer and basketball teams after both staffs attended a continuing education course. The program resulted in a decrease of knee injuries across all four teams.
n The Sports Medicine Department
expanded its patient-specific interventions related to advanced functional biomechanics of the lower quarter following a course at the Movement Performance Institute.
n The Sports Medicine Department
attended six sports psychology workshops with staff sports psychologist Dr. Ashley Samson, which improved its holistic approach to medical care and enhanced communication with student-athletes.
n The Sports Performance Department
increased the number of training sessions for men’s and women’s tennis and golf.
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n The Sports Performance Department
created individualized Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-Constrained (SMART) goals for men’s basketball and women’s tennis in collaboration with Sports Nutritionist Simona Hradil.
n The Sports Performance Department
used in-depth analytics to measure student-athlete output at practices and help coaches better plan workouts for maximum efficiency.
n The Sports Performance Department
implemented a soccer wellness questionnaire and used student-athletes responses to quantify practice and game loads, improve communication with coaches and result in half the injuries as last year.
n For the second consecutive year, women’s
basketball’s game-related injuries were less than half of the NCAA’s average number, and there were no major injuries for either the men’s or women’s basketball team.
CSUN Athletics continues to renovate its facilities and expand its brand presence on campus, updating competition and practice venues and other athletics facilities, with this year’s projects including: The Matadome n CSUN Athletics added bleachers to
the south side of The Matadome, expanding The Matadome’s capacity to 2,000.
n The Matadors added the Union
Bank Hospitality Suite on the north mezzanine.
n CSUN Athletics created and
installed a new Hall of Fame display in The Matadome Lobby and also added more small and large-scale branding elements to the lobby area.
n CSUN Athletics designed an
updated Blacktop floor, which is scheduled to be installed by fall 2016.
Intercollegiate Athletics Building n The Matadors completely
renovated the Athletics Conference Room space, adding new environmental graphics highlighting the prestigious history of CSUN Athletics.
n CSUN Athletics renovated the lobby
area and main office hallway, adding graphics displays and updated branding.
Women’s Volleyball n CSUN Athletics began planning
and renovations on a new and updated “DeYoung Family Women’s Volleyball Locker Room,” with completion scheduled for Fall 2016.
Softball, Tennis, Beach Volleyball and Baseball n The Matadors installed new
environmental entrance graphics.
Field and Facility Renovations n CSUN Athletics renovated the turf
at the soccer competition and practice fields.
n The Matadors are resurfacing
the track at the Matador Track & Field Complex, with completion scheduled for Fall 2016.
n The Matadors refinished the
Matador Tennis Complex courts.
Sports Medicine n CSUN Athletics began planning
and renovations for the new Union Bank Fueling Station, which will provide student-athletes with expanded nutrition education and food, with completion scheduled for Fall 2016.
n The Matadors began planning
for the creation of a new satellite athletic training facility that will service the healthcare needs of CSUN’s outdoor sports.
Baseball
Intercollegiate Athletics
n CSUN Athletics installed new
n The Matadors created new CSUN
environmental graphics along Lindley Avenue highlighting the history of CSUN Baseball.
n The Matadors expanded the First
Base Club hospitality area.
n CSUN Athletics installed signage
for the Fager Foul Line, honoring CSUN Baseball booster Dick Fager.
Athletics-branded stationary and business cards.
n CSUN Athletics redesigned
GoMatadors.com with an updated look that is consistent with what fans are familiar with but presents a visually-driven user experience.
Facilities & Branding CSUN Athletics 2015-16 Annual Report
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Baseball n The Matadors finished 33-22 with an 11-13
Big West Conference record.
n CSUN posted its best start since 1996,
going 18-3.
n The Matadors recorded back-to-back 30-win
seasons for the first time since the 2001 and 2002 teams accomplished the feat.
n With a 21-7 home record, the Matadors
registered their most wins at Matador Field since 2001.
n The team won 13 in a row, the longest
winning streak since 1998.
n CSUN swept UCLA for the first time
since 1998.
n The team also recorded two conference
sweeps during the season (Cal Poly and UC Davis) for the first time since 2013.
n Sophomore Kenny Rosenberg concluded the
year with 118 strikeouts, the eighth-most in a season in CSUN history and tops in the Big West Conference this season.
n Senior Branden Berry earned All-Big West
Conference Honorable Mention honors.
nR osenberg also won three Big West
Conference Pitcher of the Week Awards on February 29, March 28 and May 23.
n Junior Conner O’Neil became CSUN’s all-time
leader in saves, finishing 2016 with 10 saves to push his career total to 22.
n Senior Yusuke Akitoshi ended his collegiate
career seventh in school history with 18 sacrifice hits and ninth with seven triples.
n Junior Fred Smith began the year hitting
safely in the first 21 games.
nR osenberg was selected in the eighth round
of the 2016 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, making the highest-selected Matador since 2009.
nO ’Neil and Berry were selected in the 32nd
and 33rd rounds of the MLB Draft, giving the Matadors their most draft selections since 2010.
n Head Coach Greg Moore has served as the
pitching coach for USA Baseball’s U-18 National Team for the past two seasons, with last summer’s team winning a gold medal in Osaka, Japan. This summer, Moore and Team USA will compete in the 2016 COPABE Pan American “AAA” Championships in Monterrey, Mexico.
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n The Matadors were 10-20 and 5-11 in the
Big West Conference, finishing tied for sixth in the conference.
n CSUN earned series wins over Big West
opponents Cal State Fullerton and Cal Poly, marking the first time the Matadors swept two conference opponents in five seasons.
n Senior Tre Hale-Edmerson concluded
his Matador career as the all-time school leader in three categories: blocks (188), games played (129) and games started (124).
n Hale-Edmerson is also the only Matador
ever to score 800 points, grab 700 rebounds and dish out 300 assists.
n Hale-Edmerson concluded his CSUN
career ranked fifth in rebounding (727), sixth in minutes played (3,521), eighth in assists (303) and eighth in steals (137).
n Junior transfer Kendall Smith joined the
team midway through the season and finished leading the team in scoring.
n Smith earned Big West Conference
Honorable Mention honors and Player of the Week after his first week playing for the Matadors.
n The Matadors improved their win total
from the 2014-15 season despite the fact that half of their opponents finished the season better than .500.
n 18 of 30 games were decided by 10 points
or less.
n Head Coach Reggie Theus was
immortalized in ceramic by the Sacramento Kings with a bobblehead giveaway honoring his first basket in thenArco Arena, the first in the arena. He also returned to Sacramento with other Kings legends to participate in ceremonies as the Kings celebrated the last-ever game in Sleep Train Arena.
Men’s Basketball CSUN Athletics 2015-16 Annual Report
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Women’s Basketball n The Matadors finished the year 7-24
overall and 5-11 in Big West play.
n CSUN advanced to the Big West
Tournament for the fifth consecutive year.
n The Matadors defeated Penn State at the
Radisson Hotel Chatsworth Thanksgiving Basketball Classic, CSUN’s first win ever against a Big Ten opponent.
nC hannon Fluker was named Big West
Freshman of the Year and became the first freshman named First Team All-Big West since 2002.
nF luker was also named National
Mid-Major Freshman of the Year by CollegeSportsMadness.com.
n The Matadors swept season series with UC
Irvine and Cal State Fullerton.
n During the regular season, CSUN posted
a home win over eventual Big West Tournament Champion Hawai’i.
n Junior Emily Cole ended the year ranked
among the school’s all-time top 10 in both 3-pointers and 3-point attempts.
n Senior Jasmine Johnson set a new
career high for points in a game on five different occasions.
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n CSUN Beach Volleyball finished its third
season with an overall record of 8-14 and was seeded third in the first-ever Big West Tournament.
n The Matadors won eight matches in 2016,
more than they had in their previous two seasons combined.
n CSUN finished with a home record of 4-2
with its only losses coming to No. 7 Long Beach State and No. 4 UCLA.
n The pair of Julie Haake and Maddie
Leiphardt was named second team All-Big West while the pair of Lauren Conati and Katie Sato was named honorable mention.
nH aake and Leiphardt won a team-high
10 matches while the duos of Nicolette Pinkney and Nicoletta Stork and Rachel Gam and Kristey Markle both won eight times.
n In the first-ever Big West Tournament,
CSUN defeated Sacramento State (4-1) and CSUN Bakersfield (3-2) before being eliminated by Cal Poly on the final day.
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Men’s Cross Country n The CSUN men’s cross country team
finished eighth at the Big West Cross Country Championships.
n Freshman Michael Merchan finished 36th
at the Big West Conference Championships to lead the men in the 8k final.
n Sophomore Manuel Vargas finished third
in the Pepperdine men’s 5k in a time of 15:52.25.
nM erchan was the Matadors’ top finisher
at the final three meets of the season, including the NCAA West Regional in Seattle, WA.
nM erchan’s best finish of the season was
at the Highlander Invitational in Riverside, where he was 23rd in a time of 18:40.14.
nC harlie Nettle, Ricardo Garcia and Mario
Ramirez all finished in the top 10 at the Pepperdine Invitational, leading the CSUN men to a second place finish.
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n The CSUN women’s cross country team
finished eighth at the Big West Cross Country Championships.
n Senior Elizabeth Nelson finished a team-
best 26th in the Big West Championships’ women’s 6k.
n Nelson opened the season with a win at
the Pepperdine Invitational, clocking a time of 14:29.64.
n Nelson also finished fifth at the San
Francisco Invitational and 10th at the Highlander Invitational at UC Riverside.
Women’s Cross Country CSUN Athletics 2015-16 Annual Report
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Men’s Golf n The Matadors finished the season with
a sixth-place finish at the Big West Championship.
n CSUN hosted the championship at Wood
Ranch Golf Club in Simi Valley, the first time in 15 years that CSUN has hosted a conference golf championship.
n Junior Felix Mory was named second team
All-Big West while senior Tim Snyder was named honorable mention.
n Mory led the Matadors with a 73.2 scoring
average and had five top 10 finishes including a win at the OGIO UC Santa Barbara Intercollegiate in April.
n Mory fired CSUN’s low round of the season,
a seven-under par 65 at the Sacramento State Invitational.
nS nyder led CSUN with a third place finish
at the Big West Championship and also added four top 20 finishes in 2015-16.
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n The Matadors concluded the season
with a sixth-place finish at the Big West Championship.
n Freshman Cake Phuchanbanchob led
CSUN with a 77.4 scoring average and had a team-high three Top 10 finishes and three Top 20 finishes.
n Fellow freshman Ysabel Tran finished
second on the squad with a 77.9 scoring average and matched Phuchanbanchob with three top 10 showings.
nP huchanbanchob finished a season-best
second at the Santa Clara Colby Classic after posting a 10-over-par 226.
n Senior Arinda Bhanaraksa and Tran tied
for CSUN’s low round of the season, oneunder 71.
n CSUN assistant coach Alison Curdt was
named LPGA National Teacher of the Year in October.
Women’s Golf CSUN Athletics 2015-16 Annual Report
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Men’s Soccer n The Matadors finished the year 8-8-
3 overall and 4-4-2 in Big West Play, advancing to the Big West Tournament.
n The Matadors finished 6-0-2 in their last
eight road matches.
n Senior Trevor Morley was named Big West
Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All-Big West for the third-straight year.
n Senior David Turcios earned First Team
All-Big West honors.
n Seniors Carlos Gonzalez and Adam Hobbs
earned Second Team All-Big West honors.
n Junior Patrick Hickman earned Honorable
Mention All-Big West honors for the second-straight year.
nA ndrew Rizeq was named to the Big West
Conference All-Freshman Team.
nM orley was selected in the third round
of the MLS SuperDraft by the Portland Timbers.
n Matador goalie Adam Hobbs finished his
career third in CSUN history with 29 career victories, fourth with 218 saves and fourth with 14 shutouts.
n Junior Shane Steffes was named CSUN’s
Big West Men’s Scholar Athlete of the Year.
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n The Matadors finished 11-8-1 and 4-3-1 in
Big West Conference play.
n The team’s 11 wins are the most since
2012, and it marks the fifth time CSUN has posted double-digit victories under head coach Keith West.
n Sophomore Cynthia Sanchez and
junior Kourtney Kutscher earned All-Big West Conference First Team honors while senior Kendall Moskal received a Second Team selection and Lindsay Kutscher was named to the All-Freshman Team.
n Sanchez also became the eighth Matador
in team history to be named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-West Region Team with a Third Team selection.
n Also, Sanchez shattered the team’s single-
season scoring record with 11 goals and tied for the most points in a season in team history with 25.
n A total of 12 different Matadors scored
goals during the season and 17 registered points.
n Senior goalkeeper Cynthia Tafoya
finished her career third in CSUN history in shutouts (10.0), fourth in wins (16) and fifth in saves (151).
Women’s Soccer CSUN Athletics 2015-16 Annual Report
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Softball n The Matadors finished the year 34-22
overall and 14-7 in the Big West to earn second place in the conference.
n Junior Taylor Glover became the first
Matador since 2004 to earn National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) AllAmerican Honors, receiving a Third Team At-Large Outfield award.
nG lover is also the first CSUN player in more
than a decade to earn two career NFCA First Team All-West Region honors and with First Team honors in 2016, she has earned all-region all three seasons at CSUN.
n Junior Daphne Pofek earned Third Team
NFCA All-West Region honors.
nG lover, Pofek and sophomore Savannah
Horvath earned First Team All-Big West honors.
n Junior Karlie Habitz was named Big West
Defensive Player of the Year and Second Team All-Big West.
n Junior Katie Hooper earned Honorable
Mention All-Big West.
n Freshmen Mackenzie Babbitt and Taylor
Troost earn Big West All-Freshman team honors.
n CSUN has posted three straight 30-win
seasons for the first time in program history since 1997-99.
nT roost threw a six-inning no-hitter against
Idaho State on Mar. 18.
n The Matadors defeated a Pac-12 opponent
for the fourth-straight year and recorded a win over Stanford for the second-straight season.
nG lover moved into the Big West
Conference all-time Top 10 in career stolen bases and career triples.
n Senior Maylynn Mitchell was named
CSUN’s Big West Women’s Scholar Athlete of the Year.
n Head Coach Tairia Flowers also serves
as the Head Coach for the USA Junior National Team and the USA Elite Team. Last summer, the Junior National Team won the World Championships and this summer, the USA Elite Team will compete in the World Cup of Softball.
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n The Matadors finished the year 10-13
overall and 3-5 in Big West Conference play.
n CSUN upset third-seeded Cal State
Fullerton in the Big West Championship Quarterfinals, 4-3.
n Juniors Mickey Hsu and Kristen Poei
earned First Team All-Big West honors for the second-straight year.
n Hsu and Poei own the most career doubles
wins (44) for a tandem in school history, exactly twice as much as the next closest pair.
n Hsu and Poei rank tied for ninth in
program history with 44 career doubles victories apiece.
n Junior Vivian Lin and freshman Skyla
Alcon earned All-Big West Doubles Honorable Mention.
n Hsu was named to the All-Big West Singles
Second Team.
n CSUN posted its first-ever wins over
Colorado State, Connecticut and Western Michigan in program history, as well as impressive victories over LMU and UC Davis throughout the season.
Women’s Tennis CSUN Athletics 2015-16 Annual Report
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Men’s Track & Field n Senior Anass Zouhry set a CSUN record in
the indoor mile at 3:58.87 to place third at the MPSF Indoor Championships.
n Zouhry placed 13th in the mile at the
NCAA Indoor National Championships, earning him Second Team All-American honors.
n Junior Daniel Swarbrick won the discus
at the Big West Outdoor Track & Field Championships and placed sixth in the hammer throw with season best throws, advancing him to the NCAA West Regional Preliminary Championships in both events.
n Swarbrick placed 16th in the discus at the
NCAA Regionals.
n Junior Andre McBride won the 200m
at the Big West Outdoor Track & Field Championships and finished third in the 100m, advancing to the NCAA Regionals in the 100m.
n Zouhry won the 1,500m at the Big West
Outdoor Track & Field Championships for the second-straight season, advancing to the NCAA Regionals.
nJ oshua Webster and Kurt Felicitas
finished second and third in the triple jump at the Big West Outdoor Championships and both advanced to the NCAA Regionals.
n The 4x100m team of McBride, Jared
Cape, Ian Harriott and Kiyoshi Johnson finished fourth at the Big West Outdoor Championships.
n Sophomore Dawaun Lucas and
junior Zachary Rosales finished second and third in the shot put, junior Lohnnie Tape-Jackson finished third in the high jump and sophomore Re’Quan Harley finished fourth in the long jump at the Big West Outdoor Championships.
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n Senior Samantha Dirks scored six points
at the MPSF Indoor Championships, placing fourth in the 400m and eighth in the 800m.
n Junior Gardenia Centanaro won the pole
vault at the Big West Outdoor Track & Field Championships with a school-record clearance of 4.03m, advancing to the NCAA West Regional Preliminary Championships.
n Junior Brianna Cueva won the discus
and finished third in the shot put at the Big West Outdoor Track & Field Championships, advancing to the NCAA Regionals in the discus.
n Senior Jakayla Daniels placed fourth
in the shot put at the Big West Championships and advanced to the NCAA Regionals in the shot put and the discus.
n Junior Asheley Bamberg finished fourth in
the 400m at the Big West Championships.
n The 4x100m relay team of Bamberg,
Janesha Anthony, Mianni Brown and Laurie Henigan placed third at the Big West Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
n Senior Alyana Nicolas tied for seventh
in the pole vault with a personal record, junior Rachael Naumann placed seventh in the 3000m-steeplechase with a seasonbest time and Anthony placed eighth in the 100m at the Big West Championships.
n Seniors Maria Veale (200m) and Monique
Griffiths (hammer throw) competed at the 2016 Olympic Trials and Griffiths also earned a silver medal at the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Under-23 Championships.
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Men’s Volleyball n CSUN Men’s Volleyball finished the season
14-15 overall and 7-15 in the MPSF (9th).
n The Matadors finished the season ranked
14th in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 15 national poll.
n The Matadors narrowly missed their first
MPSF Tournament appearance since 2012.
n Sophomore middle blocker Josiah Byers
was named Honorable Mention All-MPSF.
n Dimitar Kalchev was named to the Off
The Block/Springbak, Inc. Freshman AllAmerica Team.
n CSUN posted wins over nationally-ranked
Long Beach State (#2), Penn State (#6), UC Irvine (#11) and USC (#13).
n Junior Jakub Ciesla led the Matadors with
314 kills (3.24 kps), which ranked in the top 15 in the MPSF.
nK alchev ranked second on the Matadors
with 301 kills (3.04) and finished fourth in the conference with 45 aces.
nK alchev’s ace total ranks sixth in CSUN
history for a single season.
n The Big West Conference announced
in May 2016 that men’s volleyball will become the conference’s 18th sport beginning in 2018.
n Assistant Coach Theo Edwards was named
an Assistant Coach for the USA Boys’ Volleyball Youth National Team’s summer NORCECA Championship
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n CSUN Women’s Volleyball finished the
season 8-20 overall and tied for fifth in the Big West at 7-9.
n Senior Cieana Stinson was named
first team All-Big West for the second consecutive season while Aeryn Owens was named honorable mention as well as to the All-Freshman Team.
n Stinson finished the season with team
highs of 377 kills and 3.77 kills per set, which ranked fifth in the Big West Conference.
n Stinson concluded her CSUN career ranked
seventh in school history with 1,213 kills.
n Owens was named Big West Freshman
Player of the Week and sophomore Katie Sato was named Big West Defensive Player of the Week, both on Nov. 23.
n CSUN played a tough non-conference
schedule that included No. 8 Washington (twice), No. 16 Arizona and No. 23 Utah.
Women’s Volleyball CSUN Athletics 2015-16 Annual Report
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Women’s Water Polo n The Matadors went 12-20 on the season
and 0-5 in Big West play.
n CSUN completed the season ranked 22nd
in the nation.
n At the Big West Conference
Championships, CSUN finished fifth including defeating No. 10-ranked UC Davis on the final day of the tournament.
n Sophomore Madeleine Sanchez scored
a career-high 73 goals, the fourth-most goals in a season in team history.
n With 59 steals, Sanchez posted the 10th-
most steals in a single season in team history.
n Sanchez tied a school record for the
most goals in a game with seven against Pomona-Pitzer on Jan. 30.
n Also, Sanchez earned All-Big West
Conference Second Team honors.
n Sophomore Katelyn Fairchild led the
team with 73 steals, the eighth-most in a season in CSUN history.
n Sophomore Amy Yule concluded the
season with 46 goals on a team-best 50.5 percent shooting.
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