Northridge Women Face No. 1 Challenge: UCLA

The Cal State Northridge women’s volleyball team, ranked 13th in the NCAA Division II, will meet defending Division I national champion UCLA tonight at 6:30 in the first round of the National Invitational Volleyball Tournament at Pauley Pavilion.

The Bruins (10-2) are ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division I and start four All-Americans, including Liz Masakayan, the winner of the 1984 Broderick Award as the nation’s most outstanding player.

The tournament field includes 11 of the top 20 Division I teams in the nation and 18 former All-Americans.

The University of Pacific, ranked No. 3 in the nation, has won the tournament the past three years.

Northridge is in the same pool as UCLA, Fresno State and the University of Calgary. The Lady Matadors will play Calgary on Friday at 11:30 a.m. and Fresno State at 2:30 in pool play.

The quarterfinals of the tournament begin Friday night at 6:30, and the semifinals begin Saturday morning at 9. The championship match will be Saturday night at 8 p.m.

Northridge, a Division II finalist in 1984, enters the tournament with a 5-5 record, but four of its five losses have come to Division I teams.

CSUN Coach Walter Ker said that his tough preseason schedule accounts for CSUN’s less-than-outstanding record and its national ranking.

Under the guidance of Ker, the Lady Matadors have won 74% of its matches during the past six seasons. He led CSUN to national championships in 1980 and 1983, two national second-place finishes (1982 and 1984) and a third place in 1981.