Israel Flexes Volleyball Muscle : National Team’s Showing Belies Reputation as Weakling

The Israeli national men’s volleyball team was looking for competition to help it prepare for European tournaments this summer.

Teams in the California Intercollegiate Volleyball Assn. were looking for tough practice games to prepare for the conference season that starts next week.

As a result, a seven-game series was scheduled matching Israel against CIVA teams, all of which are expected to be ranked in the Top 20 in the first Collegiate Volleyball Coaches Assn. poll next week.

The Israelis conclude the business end of their two-weeklong U.S. trip at 7:30 tonight with a game against Cal State Northridge at the CSUN gym. A crowd of about 1,500 is expected. Including Tuesday night’s 15-5, 6-15, 15-7, 15-3 victory over Long Beach State, Israel is 5-1, its only loss at the hands of two-time defending national champion Pepperdine.

Against many national teams, a college team--no matter how skilled--would not stand much of a chance. Israel, however, is not exactly an international power in the sport.

Israel did not qualify for last year’s world volleyball championships, nor did it qualify for the Los Angeles Olympics.

“In Europe, Israel is between ninth and 12th best,” said Ron Peleg, a member of the Israeli Volleyball Assn. and organizer of the trip. “But the team is young and is getting better.”

Before Tuesday, Israel already had defeated UC Santa Barbara, UCLA, USC and San Diego State. The victory over UCLA was an especially welcome surprise to the Israelis: the Bruins were top ranked in the NCAA by Volleyball Monthly magazine in its preseason poll.

“We know the power of U.S. volleyball,” said Meier Katz, Israel’s coach. “For us to win UCLA is very good for us. I have seen the American national team and they are a great team. We know the best of the college players go on to play on that team. Maybe in the future we can see a player and say, ‘We won him when he was at UCLA.’ ”

UCLA has won 11 national championships since 1965 and six former Bruins are members of the U.S. team that is ranked No. 1 in the world.

Pepperdine, which defeated Israel in five games last Tuesday, was ranked second by Volleyball Monthly. Third-ranked USC lost to Israel in straight games last Saturday.

“I don’t think the coaches realized how good they were,” Peleg said. “They have gone way and above our expectations. We didn’t know they could play with the top three teams in the United States.”

Meier said part of the team’s success can be attributed to its conditioning. “We had some advantage because we came here ready,” he said. “Teams here are early in their season. These were their first games. We won on some of their mistakes and our team played very well--much better than expected.”

The team’s trip to the United States was financed entirely by donations from Jewish organizations in Southern California. Players, coaches and team administrators stayed with Jewish families living in the Valley area.

Tonight’s game will be the first of the season for the Matadors, who are coming off the best year in school history. Northridge finished with a 6-14 record in the CIVA, 17-19 overall, but success in this case shouldn’t be measured by winning percentage. A Division II school in every sport but men’s volleyball, Northridge beat two Top 10 teams in finishing in a tie for eighth in what perennially has been the nation’s toughest conference.

Teams from the CIVA have won 16 of the past 17 national championships.