NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN’S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS : Southern Illinois and Clouds Shroud Northridge in Team Championship

On a morning in which even the sun only intermittently peeked out from behind the clouds, the most reliable players on the Cal State Northridge women’s tennis team also failed to shine Tuesday.

As a result, the top-seeded Lady Matadors were beaten by Southern Illinois Edwardsville, 5-4, at CSUN in the team final of the NCAA Division II tennis championships.

The loss was the first of the season for Northridge against Division II competition and only its second overall in 30 matches.

This also was a week of other firsts for the Lady Matadors, who were trying to win their second Division II title in five seasons:

--Susan Campbell, who was 28-1 overall as CSUN’s No. 2 singles player and had not lost to a Division II opponent before this week, was an easy victim for freshman Portia George, 6-3, 6-2. The loss was Campbell’s second in straight sets this week in only three matches. She was beaten by Northern Colorado’s Nancy Roe in Monday’s quarterfinals, 6-1, 6-2.

--Campbell and doubles partner Missy Conn, who also were 28-1 overall and had not lost to a Division II opponent before this week, lost in straight sets for the second time in three matches. Campbell and Conn, beaten Monday by Northern Colorado’s Roe and Sandra Elliott, were defeated in the final by George and Christina Bokelund, 6-2, 6-3.

--Kelly Grattan, also unbeaten against Division II competition, had an even worse time. At No. 4 singles, she was overwhelmed by Jenny Reuter, 6-2, 6-1.

Bob Meyers, the Southern Illinois coach, had a simple explanation for the collapse of CSUN’s most consistent players.

“They hadn’t played us,” he said.

CSUN Coach Tony Davila didn’t want to make any excuses.

“They won it,” he said of the No. 2-seeded Cougars. “It wasn’t something we gave to them.”

Southern Illinois’ victory could not be considered an upset. According to rankings released before the tournament by the Intercollegiate Tennis Coaches Assn., the Cougars (19-7) were the nation’s No. 1 team. Their top player, Bokelund, is seeded No. 1 in the individual singles championships, which begin today at CSUN. George is seeded fifth. And Bokelund and George are seeded No. 2 in the doubles tournament.

Campbell, though, offered an explanation for her poor play.

The sophomore from Louisville High has been house-sitting and baby-sitting for a neighbor in Woodland Hills, she said. On Sunday, the two children she’s watching came down with the chicken pox.

“It’s just too much for me to have on my mind right now,” Campbell said of the parents’ frequent--and frantic--calls from France. “I shouldn’t be thinking about it, but I can’t help it. . . .

“I just think that my mind wasn’t focused. And in doubles, it was ridiculous. We weren’t even close to being into the match. We didn’t know what to do. And we’d been on all year. Yesterday, we said, ‘OK, that was a bad day.’ But today. . . .”

Her voice trailed off.

“It’s very disappointing,” she said. “I was really looking forward to this and playing my best. But I was so tight and so tense the whole time. It’s just unfortunate.”

Grattan said of her loss to Reuter, a transfer from Iowa who became eligible less than two months ago: “She had a forehand that wouldn’t stop. It just blew me off the court.”

Even with Campbell and Grattan losing in singles, though, CSUN had a chance to pull out the match in doubles after freshman Brenda Pantano outlasted Nicki DeMuro in No. 6 singles, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, and Conn rallied to beat Michele Wreen in No. 3 singles, 1-6, 7-6, 6-1.

The emotional victories tied the team score at 3-3 and seemed to give an emotional lift to CSUN’s other players, who had completed their matches and cheered each of their teammates’ points in the last two singles matches.

The cheers turned to tears, though, after Bokelund and George made quick work of Campbell and Conn and, less than 20 minutes later, Reuter and DeMuro completed a 6-2, 6-3 rout of Pantano and Suzie Izmirian. Pantano’s double fault on match point touched off a torrent of victory screams from the Southern Illinois players.

“It’s a relief,” said Meyers, whose teams finished third last season and second in 1984, losing both times to eventual champion Tennessee Chattanooga. “We’ve been so close for the last few years.”

All that was left for the Cougars was to figure out a way to celebrate. Somebody suggested the beach, but George said: “Let’s go to Beverly Hills and look at the houses and drool.”