CSUN Volleyball Team Finishes Third in Davis

The Cal State Northridge women’s volleyball team is still undefeated, but that distinction was only good enough for a third-place finish Saturday at the 32-team Western Invitational tournament at UC Davis.

The Lady Matadors, winners of 10 straight games in pool play, beat North Dakota State in the quarterfinals, 15-11, 15-10, but were stopped by Athletes in Action, 15-6, 15-9, in the semifinals to finish in a tie for third with UCLA.

Because AIA is not an NCAA team, only the victory over North Dakota State will count on Northridge’s official record. Thus, despite an unofficial loss, the Lady Matadors are 1-0.

“Overall, we played very well and improved as the tournament went along,” Northridge Coach Walt Ker said. “I think North Dakota State will be a good Division II team this year, and that was a nice win for us.

In other matches on Saturday, Northridge defeated Hawaii Hilo (15-13, 15-11) and Cal (15-12, 15-9).

Ker thought the unofficial loss to AIA was also a good test for his team.

“As we went on, the competition got stiffer,” Ker said. “Athletes in Action is like a Who’s Who of former All-Americans and collegiate players from the Division I level. They’ve fared very well against Division I opponents already this season, beating USC and Pepperdine.”