After Another Loss in Final, Answers Are Difficult for Northridge Women

Members of the Cal State Northridge women’s volleyball team spent the last few days sifting through the wreckage, trying to figure out what hit them Saturday night.

They were steamrolled by UC Riverside, 15-9, 15-6, 15-6, in the final match of the NCAA Division II championships.

How was it that the No. 1-ranked Lady Matadors, in their most important match of the season, suddenly and unexpectedly turned into the Lady Doormats?

Was it overconfidence?

Northridge had beaten Riverside twice this season, most recently in a three-game sweep on Nov. 18, and the Riverside seniors had beaten Northridge only once in four years.

That one victory was accomplished Nov. 9 in the final match of the Premier Tournament at Colorado Springs, Colo., and was later dismissed as meaningless by CSUN captain Karen Lontka.

“Northridge has that cocky attitude,” said Riverside’s Melanie Jones, who almost single-handedly killed the Lady Matadors with 23 kills, “but when it came down to it, they didn’t make it happen.”

Were the Lady Matadors physically and emotionally drained following their stirring five-game, 2 1/2-hour semifinal victory over Nebraska Omaha on Friday night?

Omaha Coach Janice Kruger said her players complained that their legs were numb the next day and called the match one of the most emotional her team played this season. “It was kind of like the California pride was on the line, that a Midwestern school would be pushing them to the limit,” she said.

But Riverside Coach Sue Gozansky said: “Coming off an exciting win, and you’re going into the championship match . . . as far as I’m concerned, that probably wasn’t a factor. . . . I think your athletes should be in good enough shape at this point to play two nights in a row.”

Were they duped into thinking that Riverside’s Annie Kniss, the Division II Player of the Year, wouldn’t play because of a sprained left ankle?

Kniss, who was carried out of the gym after injuring the ankle in Riverside’s semifinal victory over North Dakota State and spent all day Saturday on crutches, never left the floor in the final.

“I thought they kind of set them up with that,” Kruger said. “I thought that was maybe some kind of mind game.”

Was it something they ate?

“It was a strange feeling out on the court--really weird,” said CSUN’s Chris Tedeschi. “For some reason, we couldn’t put anything together. . . . After the first game, I could tell that our heart wasn’t really in it. . . . It was really frustrating because you’re out there and you’re trying, but things just aren’t happening. It was kind of a panic, too. It seemed like it was all over so fast.”

Is Riverside simply better?

“We knew, player by player, that we were stronger,” said Riverside’s Jones. “You look at each of their players, and who we have to block, and we’re stronger all the way down the line.”

CSUN Coach Walt Ker, whose teams have lost in the final three straight years and four times in the last five, wasn’t buying any of it.

His players knew they were playing a good team--he had told them from the first day of practice last August that Riverside was the team to beat--and fatigue wasn’t a factor in the final, he said, because “we were lousy from the start.

“I don’t think we played or prepared with a lack of intensity, but we sure didn’t come out very sharp and, as a result, the momentum went completely to Riverside and that affected us throughout the rest of the match. . . .

“I think that particularly in games two and three, we just weren’t playing with the kind of attitude that we had last month and they were playing with a completely different attitude--a much more positive attitude.”

While he was quick to praise Riverside, Ker said that his players are at least the equal of Riverside’s.

His players, devastated by the outcome, didn’t say much.

“You saw it,” said Lontka, a senior who took the loss harder than most of her teammates.

What happened?

“I don’t know.”

You haven’t figured it out?

“Yeah, I have. But I don’t really want to talk about it.”

Overconfidence?

“I don’t know. I don’t want to talk about it.”

If the Lady Matadors were fooled as to the extent of Kniss’ injury, it wasn’t intentional, Gozansky said.

But she did say that the hoopla surrounding Kniss’ availability took her players’ minds off the importance of the final match.

“We were thinking less about winning that match than about her having an opportunity to play in it,” Gozansky said. “And, in the end, that probably helped us. It probably took the pressure off of us and--once she was able to play--probably inspired everyone even more than they already were.”

Said Omaha’s Kruger: “It’s just a matter of luck and who was up that day. Riverside was really on its game and in very high spirits.”

And Gozansky said that Northridge just wasn’t ready to play.

“They made us look even better than we were,” she said.

And left themselves searching for the answers why.