CSUN Trips Long Beach in Volleyball

John Price, the Cal State Northridge men’s volleyball coach, had several decisions to make at the start of the season.

One of them was who to start opposite Jeff Campbell at middle blocker. The choice was between Jeff McClean, a 6-5 senior who Price considered one of the team’s best blockers, or 6-6 junior Ron Graening, known more for his hitting than blocking abilities.

With Price opting for the better blocking combination, Graening has seen only limited playing time. Until Thursday night, that is, when he had 14 kills and 5 blocks to help lead CSUN over Long Beach State, 15-8, 15-0, 8-15, 15-9, at the Northridge gym.

Now it is McClean who has seen limited playing time since he suffered an ankle injury during a recent match against UCLA.

“Ron did an excellent job blocking tonight,” Price said. “He’s always been a good attacker but he usually doesn’t block as well as McClean. Tonight he did.”

And Northridge (11-12), ranked No. 7 in the nation, extended its Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Assn. record to 4-7 and posted its first shutout game in conference play in history.

Long Beach (11-11, 1-7 in the WIVA) is ranked 10th in the nation but played well below its ranking. Four of the team’s six starters had hitting averages below .150; the team average was .129. Conversely, four Northridge players hit above .300 and the team had an average of .289. CSUN junior Jeff Campbell hit .444 and recorded a match-high 18 kills. Andrew Greskovics added 14 kills.

“We haven’t played a good match in a long time,” Long Beach Coach Ray Ratelle said. “We made a lot of mistakes in the first and second games. When Northridge got their confidence, it was too hard to come back.”

Indeed, Northridge had stormed through the second game and took a 7-4 lead in the third before the quality of play on both sides of the net dipped. Long Beach, still lacking solid defense, rallied offensively while Northridge ran into passing problems and lost, 15-8.

Northridge regained its composure in the final game, leading from the start and allowing Long Beach to score only sporadically.

Last season--as in previous seasons--it was Northridge that remained near the bottom of the WIVA, scraping out only an occasional victory.

Not this season.

“They have the best talent in the league,” Ratelle said. “I knew by midseason they’d come around.”