COLLEGE HIGHLIGHTS : Northridge Loses to Pepperdine

John Price, Cal State Northridge men’s volleyball coach, wore a green shamrock-spotted tie for the Matadors’ match against Pepperdine on Tuesday night at CSUN. But the Matadors’ luck ran out early as the Waves crushed the Matadors, 15-5, 15-6, 15-10, on St. Patrick’s Day in a Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Assn. match.

CSUN (9-14, 2-8 in conference), has struggled all season. Price gave his team three words of advice in his pre-match pep talk. “Go for it.”

The Matadors were either unable to execute or had instant amnesia. It took less than four minutes for the Matadors to fall behind, 5-0, in the first game. A 5-3 lead in the second game ranked as the Matadors’ grandest moment.

Pepperdine, ranked second in the nation among Division I teams, is 13-5 overall and 8-2 in the conference.

Senior outside hitter Mike Bird led CSUN with 15 kills and sophomore middle blocker Ron Graening had 10 kills.