March 17, 2008

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Cal State Northridge continued its season of firsts this week as the Matadors tied for the top spot in the CBS College Sports Network/AVCA Top 15 Poll. Northridge (17-4) received seven first-place votes and a season-high 227 points this week for its highest ranking in school history. Penn State (21-1) tallied six first-place votes and also earned 227 to tie the Matadors for the top spot while BYU (17-2), which has held the top spot for much of the season, slipped to third after splitting two matches at UCLA last week.

The Matadors, who are off from match action this week, ran their school-record win streak to 11 with a five-game thriller over No. 5 Pepperdine last Wednesday, Mar. 12. Northridge returns to action on Tuesday, Mar. 25 as the Matadors host 14th-ranked Hawai'i in the first of two matches at The Matadome.

Northridge has steadily improved its ranking all season after being ranked seventh in the Preseason Poll on Dec. 20. The Matadors slipped to eighth in week two after starting the season 3-2 before reclaiming the seventh spot in week three. After sweeping both No. 6 Stanford and Pacific, Northridge improved to 6-2 and a number six national ranking. Two losses at top-ranked BYU kept the Matadors sixth in week five, but the beginning of the 11-match win streak propelled Northridge (8-4) to fourth in week six.

Despite winning four straight matches (three over ranked teams), the Matadors remained fourth for the next two weeks before claiming the No. three ranking in week nine following a five-game upset win at No. 2 Long Beach State and a 3-1 win at UC San Diego. Northridge moved up to a then-school record No. 2 national ranking last week after wins over No. 13 UC Santa Barbara and No. 8 USC. The Matadors received a pair of first-place votes last week settting up this week's number one national ranking.

- GO MATADORS -