Momentum Takes CSUN Wrong Way

John Price, volleyball coach at Cal State Northridge, said momentum may be a problem for his team as it prepares for its final two WIVA matches against UCLA and Hawaii. It’s not that the Matadors lack momentum, either.

“Our momentum is fine,” said Price, whose team lost all three matches it played last week at the Ball State tournament. “We’re just facing the wrong direction. We have a lot of steam, we’re just going the wrong way.”

Northridge dropped from seventh to 10th in the national rankings after losing to Ball State, Penn State and George Mason in tournament matches last week.

The Matadors are battling Pepperdine and Cal State Long Beach for the fourth and final spot in the West regional. The Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Assn. champion gets an automatic bid to the NCAA Final Four. Places two through five go to the regional.

Northridge (7-9 in the WIVA) is in sixth place but has the toughest road of the three teams in contention. Fourth-ranked UCLA and third-ranked Hawaii remain on CSUN’s schedule. Pepperdine (8-8) is in fourth place and closes out with No. 13 Stanford and No. 16 Loyola Marymount. Long Beach (6-8) plays No. 5 UC Santa Barbara, Loyola Marymount, UCLA and Stanford.

Middle blocker Jeff Campbell, who leads Northridge in kill percentage, is listed as questionable for the team’s match Friday night against UCLA at Pauley Pavilion. Campbell reinjured his left leg against Ball State.

Digging in: Campbell leads the WIVA in digs per game with an average of 2.7. Teammate Jeff Krieger is second at 2.58. Campbell also is second in blocks with an average of 1.55.

More statistics: The Northridge softball team has won a school-record 30 games in a row after sweeping through the Pioneer Softball tournament at Cal State Hayward last week. . . . Outfielder Beth Onestinghel has 42 runs batted in, breaking the record of 39 she set last season. Onestinghel also had 90 total bases, three shy of the school record set by Priscilla Rouse last season. . . . Lisa Erickson has 66 hits, seven shy of Barbara Jordan’s school record of 73 set in 1986. . . . Lisa Hall has nine doubles, tying the school record set by Onestinghel last season.

String snapped: The Pierce College men’s tennis team suffered a rare loss Tuesday in a 6-3 defeat at the hands of Santa Barbara City College in a Western State Conference match at Santa Barbara.

The loss was the Brahmas’ first in their past 42 conference matches. Pierce’s last loss in WSC action was to Harbor College in 1985. And before the loss to Harbor, Pierce had a string of 97 consecutive conference wins, dating to 1976.

Santa Barbara had never beaten Pierce, but Coach Paul Xanthos said he saw his team’s loss coming.

“It’s not like we laid down and rolled over,” Xanthos said, “but I think the fact that we really haven’t had any really good competition this year has hurt us. My kids were a little overconfident coming in, and Santa Barbara was ready for us.

“It was a good match. Their kids deserved to win,” he said. “This was only our third loss since 1976, so I really can’t complain.”

Pierce (14-1-1, 13-1 in conference play) got wins from Bill Kearsley in the No. 1 singles match, and from Tony Cohen and Sam Pitts, Pierce’s No. 5 and No. 6 players.

Damage beyond repair: Pitcher Jon DeGennaro, a sophomore right-hander from Moorpark College, was supposed to sign a letter of intent this week with Loyola Marymount to play baseball.

But an injury has jeopardized the offer, and, possibly, DeGennaro’s career.

The former Agoura High standout underwent surgery Wednesday to repair a damaged ulnar nerve in his throwing arm.

“I haven’t been contacted so I don’t know if the scholarship is still available or not,” DeGennaro said. “Most likely, it’s off. I would understand if they took the scholarship back, but I would be pretty disappointed.”

DeGennaro said he made a verbal commitment with Loyola before injuring his arm last month. He had a 3-3 record before the injury after posting an 8-3 mark last season.

DeGennaro has been the Raiders’ designated hitter since injuring his arm. He homered, singled and walked twice in a 2-1 win over Pierce on Tuesday.