Northridge Advances to Semifinals : Lady Matadors Erase Central Missouri State in Division II Volleyball

Just before its match, the Cal State Northridge women’s volleyball team presented players from Central Missouri State with ballpoint pens.

The gifts were meant as a good will gesture, a souvenir of sorts by which to remember the Lady Matadors.

But that was the extent of Northridge charity Friday night as the fifth-ranked Lady Matadors cruised to a 15-6, 15-8, 15-6 victory over Central Missouri in a quarterfinal match of the NCAA Division II championships at Bison Sports Arena. Northridge will meet host North Dakota State, a 16-14, 12-15, 13-15, 15-10, 15-9 winner over Tampa, in a semifinal match tonight.

Top-ranked Portland State, which defeated New Haven, 15-11, 15-6, 15-8, will play Regis, a 15-9, 15-11, 15-8 winner over UC Riverside, in the other semifinal.

For Central Missouri, the loss to Northridge was just another chapter in what has become the same old story. For the eighth time in as many meetings, including last season’s national championship match, the Jennies were unable to handle Northridge’s attack. The match took just 60 minutes as Northridge exploited a Central Missouri lineup that included 3 freshmen and just 1 senior.

“Our freshmen showed they were freshmen and I don’t think that’s anything unexpected in a national championship-caliber match,” said Central Missouri Coach Peggy Martin, whose team finished 32-6. “They (Northridge) played awesome. I felt they were all over the place.”

Indeed, Northridge (32-11) played what Coach Walt Ker called “the most efficient volleyball we’ve played all year.” The Lady Matadors, who had a .246 attack percentage during the regular season, hit at a .385 clip against the Jennies. Outside hitter Keira Middleton had a match-high 13 kills and middle blocker Marianne Dixon had 11 kills and no errors to pace the winners.

“This is the most excited we’ve been,” said Kathleen Dixon, Northridge’s All-American middle blocker who had 6 kills and dominated play in the second game of the match. “Everyone was energetic from the first point.”

Northridge was successful in neutralizing Central Missouri’s attack, essentially a 2-player operation, by preying on the Jennies’ inexperience. Only sophomore middle blocker Becky Belland and two-time All-American Pat Hempen, a fifth-year senior who had 11 and 9 kills, were effective.

“We were just half a step late for everything,” Hempen said. “I think a lot of it had to do with nerves.”

Said Ker: “We tried to overload against their strengths and did a great job of blocking and playing defense against those two.”

Martin had said before the match that an inability by her team to receive Northridge’s serve could be its downfall, but the Jennies did themselves in during the first game by committing 7 service errors. CSUN jumped to a 5-0 lead and never looked back behind Middleton’s 5 kills and Marianne Dixon’s spectacular stuff block against Belland that put the Lady Matadors ahead, 10-3, and set the tone for the rest of the match.

In Game 2, Northridge came back from a 2-0 deficit and went ahead, 5-3, when Franci Bowman served 3 consecutive times to freshman Tara Peterson, who had difficulty controlling her passes.

Kathleen Dixon had a solo block and then combined with Alissa Evans on another that gave the Lady Matadors a 9-6 lead. After a sideout, Dixon had consecutive kills and Evans added 1 of the 7 she had in the match to put the game out of reach.

Middleton, who had 6 aces in last week’s regional win over Chapman, had 2 in the third game against Central Missouri--both during a 6-point surge that put the Lady Matadors ahead, 13-4. Kathleen Dixon ended the match on a block.

Tonight, Northridge meets a North Dakota State team that defeated the Lady Matadors in 4 games in September and finished the regular season ranked second. The Bisons are led by senior outside hitter Janet Cobbs, the Division II Player of the Year.