SAN MARCOS, Calif. –  The Cal State San Marcos volleyball team will host the fifth-annual Cougar Classic this weekend in The Sports Center. The Cougars welcome No. 4 MSU Denver on Thursday for a 6 p.m. match before playing a pair of matches on Friday against Concordia University Irvine at noon and Saginaw Valley State at 5 p.m. CSUSM will close out the Cougar Classic against Biola on Saturday at 5 p.m. 
 

LOOK INSIDE THE COUGARS

• The Cougars return two starters from the 2021 season - Kiora Ridgeway (MB) and Madison Turner (S). 
• Eight will be donning Cougar Blue for the first time on Thursday with four being true freshmen and four transferring from a four-year college. 
• The 2021 season ended with CSUSM making its fourth consecutive appearance in the CCAA Volleyball Tournament - the most by any CSUSM program that requires a qualification. 
• The Cougars finished their 2021 campaign with a 12-13 overall record and 9-9 in CCAA play – sixth in the CCAA standings. 
• As a team in the CCAA statistics, CSUSM concluded 2021 ranked fourth in digs per set (15.22) and fifth in kills per set (12.55) and blocks per set (1.88). 
• San Francisco State transfer Trinity Barr is featured on the 2022 CCAA Preseason Watchlist after earning All-CCAA first team honors last season. 
• In the 2022 CCAA Volleyball Preseason Coaches Poll, the Cougars were picked to finish fourth.

 

MATCH 1 | MSU DENVER
Date	Thursday, August 25, 2022
Time	6 p.m.
Location	San Marcos, Calif.
Venue	The Sports Center
Records	CSUSM (0-0) MSUD (0-0)
Live Stats	SideArm Stats
Live Video	CCAA Network ($)

SEASON OPENER VS. NO. 4 MSUD

• This will mark the first time these two teams face each other. 
• The Cougars are 4-0 in the Cougar Classic opener, recording sweeps over La Sierra (2016), Adelphi (2017) and Saint Martin's (2019) in addition to pulling out a five-set thriller over cross-county rival Point Loma in 2018. 
• The Roadrunners earned their highest-ever American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) preseason poll ranking at No. 4 last week. 
• MSUD is coming off its best season is school history with a 28-4 record, falling in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament to West Texas A&M. 
• The Roadrunners return much of their key personnel from last season, headlined by All-America first team outside hitter Rylee Hladky, who was the regional player of the year and RMAC Player of the Year last season while leading the conference in points (513), points per set (4.3), kills (428), kills per set (3.6) and service aces (53) and ranking second in aces per set (0.44).
• MSUD is picked to win the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) once again after going 18-0 last year.

MATCH 2 | CONCORDIA UNIV. IRVINE
Date	Friday, August 26, 2022
Time	12 p.m.
Location	San Marcos, Calif.
Venue	The Sports Center
Records	CSUSM (0-0) CUI (0-0)
Live Stats	SideArm Stats
Live Video	CCAA Network ($)

SHOWDOWN VS. CONCORDIA IRVINE

• Friday's match will be the 12th meeting between CSUSM and CUI with the Cougars recording their only wins in the last two meetings. 
• Since becoming full-fledged members of NCAA Division II, the Cougars hold a 2-0 record over the Golden Eagles. 
• CSUSM registered the program's first win over CUI in 2018 at the D2 West Region Showcase. The Cougars swept the Golden Eagles (25-17, 25-23, 25-22) on their home court in the tournament finale. 
• CSUSM picked up a come-from-behind four-set victory (21-25, 25-19, 25-23, 26-24) last season when CUI hosted the SoCal Freeway Challenge. 
• CUI closed out 2021 with a 20-7 overall record and were 15-5 in conference play to finish third in the PacWest standings. 
• The Golden Eagles return five of their seven starters, including All-PacWest second-team selections outside hitter Kirra Schultz and middle blocker Jalyssa Sanchez. 
• CUI was picked to finish fourth in the PacWest Preseason Poll.

 

MATCH 3 | SAGINAW VALLEY STATE
Date	Friday, August 26, 2022
Time	5 p.m.
Location	San Marcos, Calif.
Venue	The Sports Center
Records	CSUSM (0-0) SVSU (0-0)
Live Stats	SideArm Stats
Live Video	CCAA Network ($)

FIRST LOOK AT SVSU

• Friday's match will be the first meeting between these two teams. 
• The Cardinals concluded their 2021 campaign with a 16-11 overall record and were 8-7 in the GLIAC. 
• SVSU entered the 2021 GLIAC Volleyball tournament as the No. 6 seed and fell in three straight to third-seeded Wayne State in the first round (13-25, 16-25, 21-25). 
• 2021 GLIAC Freshman of the Year Sarah Veale is the Cardinals' top returner and finished with 111 kills (2.13 k/s) in 2021.
• SVSU was picked to finish seventh out of 10 teams in the 2022 GLIAC Preseason Poll.

 

MATCH 4 | (RV) BIOLA
Date	Saturday, August 27, 2022
Time	5 p.m.
Location	San Marcos, Calif.
Venue	The Sports Center
Records	CSUSM (0-0) Biola (0-0)
Live Stats	SideArm Stats
Live Video	CCAA Network ($)

 

COUGAR CLASSIC FINALE VS. BIOLA

• Saturday's match will be the fifth meeting between CSUSM and Biola with the Eagles holding a 4-1 record in the all-time series. 
• The Cougars swept (25-22, 28-26, 25-17) the Eagles in their most recent matchup that occurred at the 2019 D2 West Region Volleyball Showcase hosted by Cal State San Bernardino.  
• The Eagles concluded their 2021 season with a 20-8 overall record and were 16-4 in the PacWest regular season. 
• All four losses to Biola were in the NAIA era for CSUSM. 
• The Eagles return 11 players from 2021 including All-PacWest first-team selection outside hitter Madison Beebe (3.49 kps). 
• Biola was picked to finish third in the PacWest Preseason Poll.

 

THE LEONARD FILE

• Head coach Andrea Leonard enters her 12th season in charge of the Cougar volleyball team, a program she has built from the ground up since arriving on campus in 2010.
• Leonard has a 188-129 (.593) record as CSUSM's head coach.
• In 17 seasons as a collegiate head volleyball coach, Leonard holds a 280-255 (.523) career record.
• Leonard was CSUSM's first-ever CCAA Coach of the Year after guiding the Cougars to a third-place finish in the overall standings during the 2017 season.

 































 

THE LEONARD FILE

• Head coach Andrea Leonard enters her 12th season in charge of the Cougar volleyball team, a program she has built from the ground up since arriving on campus in 2010.
• Leonard has a 188-129 (.593) record as CSUSM's head coach.
• In 17 seasons as a collegiate head volleyball coach, Leonard holds a 280-255 (.523) career record.
• Leonard was CSUSM's first-ever CCAA Coach of the Year after guiding the Cougars to a third-place finish in the overall standings during the 2017 season.