CS Northridge Reaches Division II Final Four

The Cal State Northridge women’s volleyball team Saturday night earned a trip back to Portland after first settling a score with Cal Poly Pomona.

The Lady Matadors took their revenge, 15-3, 15-9, 13-15, 15-6, to win the NCAA Southwest Regional Championship and a spot in the Division II Final Four in Portland on Friday.

And they got more than even.

In September, CSUN played Pomona in the UC Davis Tournament--and lost.

It was the first match of the season that counted, so the Lady Matadors opened with an 0-1 record.

Several months and 34 matches later, No. 1-ranked CSUN evened the score.

“Tonight was when it really counted,” CSUN’s outside hitter Heather Hafner said. “There’s been a sense of revenge all year.”

Middle blocker Karen Lontka slammed the last ball of the evening vertically down into the laps of the Broncos to settle the score.

“We were just taking what was rightfully ours,” Lontka said.

“At 14-6 I could see me on that big bird,” CSUN setter Shelli Mosby, said.

And after the match Mosby held out her arms and soared around the gym, saying: “Where’s the plane? Put me on that plane.”

The Matadors will return Friday to Portland, where they lost the 1984 National Championship to Portland State, and try to even a more important score.

“You could just feel it out there,” Hafner said. “We wanted to win. And I think we can do it.”

They accomplished it easily against the fourth-ranked Broncos in what was a highly emotional match for both teams.

CSUN made 75 kills and scored 15 serving aces for a .418 hitting percentage. Pomona had a .224 hitting percentage, landing just 41 kills and seven aces.

Half of the Lady Matador aces came from Mosby and Hafner, both playing their last match at CSUN. The co-captains led an organized Lady Matador team into 4-0 lead in the first game. CSUN was threatened in that game just once when an effective Bronco middle block gave Pomona its first lead at 9-8.

CSUN’s block looked a bit weak in the second game as Pomona hurried to a 7-3 lead. But things turned around for the Lady Matadors when Hafner and outside hitter Anna Garcia combined for eight kills to turn the score around.

In the third game, Pomona took a 13-5 lead behind the kills and blocking of All-Americans Terri Dantuma and Clara Piersma. But an even more intense CSUN team brought the crowd to its feet and the points back on the board to trail by just one, 14-13, before losing.

“We figured they’d get one game off us,” Hafner said.

But after allowing the Broncos three early points in the next game, Hafner, who made 23 kills, combined with Garcia and Lontka for the win.

“It’s what makes me most proud of this program,” CSUN Coach Walt Ker said. “I’ve coached the team for seven years and each year we’ve made it to the Final Four. It’s just a few more steps, now.”