UCLA Volleyball Team Backs Its Name With Big Numbers at CSUN

The only people who showed up two years ago at a men’s volleyball match between UCLA and Cal State Northridge were the parents of the Bruins’ bench warmers.

That was the year UCLA had a 38-0 overall record, dominating the California Intercollegiate Volleyball Assn. and the NCAA. And it was the first year CSUN competed in the CIVA.

Things have changed since 1984.

The Bruins have learned the hard way that their reputation isn’t putting points on the board. This year they have had to work hard to be No. 3 in the powerful league.

The Matadors, meanwhile, had won four of their last five matches and were feeling confident about playing the shaky Bruins.

Until Wednesday night at Northridge.

UCLA got right down to business and soundly beat CSUN, 15-10, 15-2, 15-11.

Strangely, it was the Matadors--not the Bruins--who suffered from overconfidence.

“We’ve got a chance,” CSUN Coach John Price said before the match. “It’s not as one-sided as people think. They’re still one of the best teams. But they’re beatable now.”

Maybe so. But not by the Matadors.

UCLA Coach Al Scates made sure of it by preparing for the match against CSUN as if it were the NCAA finals.

“If we don’t take it seriously, we’ll lose,” Scates said. “We’re not the powerhouse we used to be in 1984.”

That was evident in the first game.

An estimated crowd of 800 watched as Mike Bird mixed up the Matador offense early in the game. Bird effectively set the ball to Chuck English and John Buffington who both made impressive kills from the net and the back of the court.

The Bruins (8-4) were so unsure of where CSUN was going to hit that they were consistently caught with just one defender up to block the attack. In comparison, Buffington and Bird put up a solid block against the hitting of All-American Reed Sunahara as the Matadors turned a four-point run into a 7-5 lead.

Even with an 11-0 lead in the runaway second game, UCLA’s Asbjorn Volstad was spinning the heads of CSUN defenders. Volstad made seven of his 12 kills and two ace serves in the game.

The Bruins started the third game the same way, losing little time in taking a 10-2 lead. Setter Andy Klussmann orchestrated the UCLA offense by doing everything but handing the ball to Jeff Williams, who easily found a place for it on the other side of the net.

When it looked like the Matadors (3-10) might not score a total of 15 points during the match, Tom Ribarich came off the bench to spur the sagging CSUN momentum with his jump serve. The ensuing play saw the Matadors outscore UCLA, 9-1.

“That jump serve got hot,” Scates said. “It’s good to take risks when you’re down like that.”

The ball moves over the net much faster with a jump serve, so the server runs a greater risk of sending it out of bounds. But Ribarich dazzled the crowd as he ran and jumped, serving a spike-like ball four times during that run.

“It’s a fun serve,” Ribarich said. “It looks good and it comes down quick.”