Small Colleges / Alan Drooz : CS Northridge Women Shoot for Another Title

The Cal State Northridge women’s volleyball team will shoot for its second Division II national title in three seasons when it makes its fifth straight appearance as one of the final four this weekend at Portland State.

The top-ranked Matadors (26-9), winners of 20 straight matches, will face seventh-ranked Nebraska Omaha in one semifinal, with defending champion Portland State playing Sam Houston State in the other. Omaha advanced by winning the Midwest regional, defeating James Madison in the semifinal and New Haven of Connecticut in the championship.

Northridge had little difficulty winning the Western regional, which included three of the nation’s top six teams. The Matadors swept St. Cloud State of Minnesota and beat Cal Poly Pomona in four games, 15-13, 15-9, 13-15 and 15-6. It was the third straight time Northridge had beaten fourth-ranked Pomona in the last two months.

Northridge is making its seventh straight postseason appearance and fifth straight in the NCAA. The defunct AIAW ran the women’s tournament before 1981. The Matadors lost to Portland State in the final last season and won the NCAA title in 1983. They were second in 1982 and third in 1981 after winning the AIAW title in 1980.

Northridge and second-ranked Portland State are the favorites to meet for the championship. The Matadors are led by senior outside hitter Heather Hafner, the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. Player of the Year and a good bet to win All-American honors for the third time. The only time she missed was as a sophomore, when she was injured.

Fullback Christian Okoye of Azusa Pacific, the 255-pound Nigerian who ran for a school-record 1,355 yards in his first full season, has decided to stay in school for his last year of eligibility. Okoye, a 10-time NAIA track and field All-American, will complete his track career next spring but has football eligibility remaining because he didn’t play until his junior year.

Okoye, who led Azusa Pacific to its best record (7-1-1), came to the school from Enugu, Nigeria, in 1982 as a national-class track man in discus and hammer throw. He became interested in football and tried out for the team before his junior year in 1984. Until that summer he had never picked up a football.

Coach Jim Milhon put him in the starting lineup midway through the season. Okoye was so impressive that NFL scouts began to watch him, drawn by his combination of size and speed. Scouts timed him at 4.5 seconds for 40 yards, and he has been clocked even faster at school.

This season, Okoye averaged 152 yards a game rushing, and 6.6 a carry. He already ranks as Azusa Pacific’s second all-time rusher with 1,889 yards in 18 varsity games. Milhon frankly admits that Okoye physically outclasses the competition on Azusa Pacific’s level. But Okoye decided not to submit his name for the NFL draft.

Okoye cited track competition in the summer of 1986--he’s the African champion in discus and a potential 1988 Olympian--and his desire to graduate as his main reasons for staying.

“I didn’t agonize over it, nor am I disappointed,” he said. “I can finish out my degree next year under no pressure, so I think I made a good decision.”

Milhon said: “Academically, I think he’s better off to stay another year, and it can only help him to learn more about the game without having to play under the pressure of making the cut of an NFL team.”

The Cal Poly Pomona women’s basketball team lost handily to USC over the weekend, but All-American center Vicki Mitchell didn’t do anything to damage her reputation as one of the top half-dozen Division II players in America.

The 6-foot senior center, having to contend not only with Cheryl Miller but with 6-5 USC center JaMaiia Bond as well, had 16 points and 15 rebounds. Pomona Coach Darlene May said Mitchell played the 6-2 Miller (18 points) even. “If she’s not the best 6-foot center in the nation I’d like to see a better one,” May said. “There’s not a better player in the country at her size.”

As Pomona departs for a three-game trip in Oregon, Mitchell is averaging 14.6 points and 13 rebounds and is shooting 58% from the floor. She also leads the team in steals.

May isn’t taking the 88-56 loss too hard. Pomona lost to USC by a large margin last year, then went on to win the Division II national championship. The Broncos will test another Division I team Saturday when they play at the University of Oregon.

College Notes Biola’s Becky Miller was named to the Division III volleyball All-American first team for the third straight season. She was on the second team as a freshman. Teammate Barbara Rozendal was named a second-team All-American. . . . Another Biola player, Sheri Myatt, received Academic All-America honors for the second straight year. . . . Cal State Northridge is doing well in postseason awards. In women’s volleyball, senior Heather Hafner was named CCAA Most Valuable Player and Walt Ker was named Coach of the Year, and in soccer, junior John Tronson was named conference MVP for the second straight year, and Coach Marwan Ass’ad the league’s top coach for the second straight year. . . . Azusa Pacific finished fourth in the National Christian College soccer tournament, ending its season with a 14-9-1 record.