College Notebook : Price’s Team Always Gets Up for the Big Guys

Cal State Northridge volleyball Coach John Price says he is more confident when his charges face UCLA or Hawaii than when the Matadors play a team like, say, San Diego State.

“I know we’ll be ready when we play a team like UCLA,” Price said. “Sometimes, against some of the other teams in the league, we haven’t concentrated as much as we should.”

The seventh-ranked Matadors (14-13, 6-8 in conference play) will need all of their faculties at 7:30 tonight when they play host to San Diego State (12-14, 2-10) in a Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Assn. match. Northridge blitzed the Aztecs in three games last week, but Price does not expect a repeat.

“I think we caught them by surprise,” Price said.

Northridge trails Pepperdine (7-7) in its quest for a Western regional playoff bid. The Matadors play host to Loyola Marymount on Wednesday then travel to a tournament at Ball State before finishing the season with WIVA matches against UCLA and Hawaii.

“When we play UCLA, there’s traditionally been about 15 to 20 UCLA fans in the stands,” Price said. “If we win our next two and go in there 8-8, we could have a good crowd and beat them. I think we’re better than they are. That’s pretty bold but that’s what I think.”

On pace: When Darcy Arreola of Cal State Northridge strained ligaments in her left ankle four weeks ago, CSUN track Coach Don Strametz feared the worst.

Fortunately for Arreola--and Strametz-- the injury was not serious.

She did miss two weeks of training, but the layoff did not seem to hurt much as she won the 1,500 meters and placed fifth in the 3,000 at last week’s Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto.

“She didn’t run that great in the 3,000 on Friday,” Strametz said. “She struggled some because of the layoff. But she felt much better on Saturday. She really looked smooth over the last few laps of the 1,500.”

Strametz would not be surprised if Arreola challenges her personal best (4:15.35) at the USC Twilight Invitational on Friday night. “If the conditions are right, we’re looking for a time of 4:12 or 4:13.”

Add CSUN track: Several other Northridge athletes performed well at Stanford.

Dan Lange, the defending California Collegiate Athletic Assn. champion in the hammer throw, won that event with a personal best of 191 feet, 8 inches.

Lolita Pile, who placed eighth in the triple jump at last year’s NCAA Division II championships, placed third in that event with a 40-1 mark.

The Northridge men’s and women’s mile relay teams both qualified for the Division II championships in May.

Tyrone Jeffries, Chris Fisher, Mike McGee and Kevin Hendrix ran 3:13.15, and the women’s team of Sheila Murray, Robin Stinson, Mary Coleman and DeAngela Smith clocked 3:48.34.

Stat watch: Pitcher Dave Feeley is not one of Cal State Northridge’s high-profile baseball players. His picture wasn’t even in the media guide and at 5-9, 145 pounds, he has virtually no shot at a professional career.

But he does have one claim to fame.

Through Monday, his was the only earned-run average under 5.50 of a Northridge pitcher with more than 20 innings.

Fili Martinez, who has pitched 46 innings, has an ERA of 7.19. Cary Snyder has an ERA of 6.80 in 43 innings; Mike Rooney’s is 5.59 in 37 innings, and Leo Ramirez has a 9.08 ERA in 35 innings. Those are the top four pitchers in innings pitched on the staff.

Feeley, a junior transfer from Riverside City College, has not pitched against the Matadors’ toughest opponents, but his marks--27 innings pitched, 8 earned runs, 11 strikeouts, 5 walks and an ERA of 2.67--indicate more work may be in the offing.

In the big time: Steve Ellsworth, who was drafted out of Cal State Northridge in 1981, has made the opening-day roster of the Boston Red Sox. Ellsworth, 27, is a 6-8, 220-pound right-hander.

Ambushed: Frank Halcovich, state junior college player of the year at College of the Canyons two years ago, had a big game Tuesday for the University of Arizona against the Cleveland Indians. The senior right-hander was the starting pitcher for the Wildcats, who won, 4-3. Although he didn’t earn the victory with his pitching, Halcovich produced the game-winning hit, a two-run single in the third.

Awards time: Malia Ouzts, who is leading Moorpark in hitting, was one of four Lady Raiders named to the all-tournament team at the College of the Sequoias softball tournament.

The others were first baseman Laura Detweiler, freshman outfielder Jamie McDaniels and sophomore third baseman Heidi Leal.