COLLEGE DIGEST : OTHER SPORTS : Second-Best Isn’t Good Enough This Season for CSUN Women

The Cal State Northridge women’s volleyball team, which lost to Portland State in the final match of the NCAA Division II championships the past two seasons, has had enough.

On the sides of their shoes, several players have drawn a 2 with the international “no” sign through it.

“We’re not going to come in second this year,” said Anna Garcia, a junior from Alemany High. “We’re going to come in first.”

The Lady Matadors, who have won 13 straight matches since losing to Loyola Marymount on Sept. 9, are ranked No. 1 this week for the first time this season in the Tachikara Division II coaches’ poll.

“We know that’s where we belong,” Garcia said, “but it doesn’t really matter until the end.”

Portland State is No. 2.

Add CSUN volleyball: Karen Lontka was named most valuable player last weekend after the Lady Matadors won the UC San Diego tournament. Teammates Chris Tedeschi and Angela Brinton were named to the all-tournament team.

The rich get richer: Fred Riscen, a left-hander from Pierce who led the state last season with 157 strikeouts, has transfered to Canyons, which next spring will try to win its fourth state baseball championship in seven seasons.

Mark Gieseke and Ted Weisfuss, who batted .379 and .320 last season at Valley, also have transfered to Canyons.

Leading the pack: Art Castle will be bidding for his third straight individual championship Saturday when the Cal Lutheran cross-country team competes in the Cal State Bakersfield Invitational. Castle won the Westmont Invitational last weekend after winning the Chapman Invitational on Sept. 20.

John Tronson scored two goals in two games as the CSUN soccer team won the Westmont tournament last weekend in Santa Barbara. That gave him 39 goals in his collegiate career--only six short of Jose Perez’s school record. Tronson also increased his career point total to 93--15 points shy of Perez’s career mark.

Although it was playing without injured starting goalkeeper Mike Caputo, CSUN beat San Jose State, 2-1, and Grand Canyon, 4-0. Freshman Mike Gonzalez replaced Caputo.

Next week, the Matadors open defense of their California Collegiate Athletic Assn. championship against the two teams that shape up as their most serious conference challengers.

CSUN travels to Chapman on Wednesday and to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Oct. 11. Last season, CSUN had to beat both Chapman and San Luis Obispo in the final week of the season to win its second straight CCAA title.

On the mat: The Pierce wrestling team opens its season against Golden West Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Pierce. Coach Erwin Goldbloom said his wrestlers are inexperienced--not because they haven’t wrestled before, but because they haven’t faced quality competition.

“High school wrestling in Los Angeles County is not up to par with the outlying areas such as Ventura County and Orange County,” he said.