CSUN VOLLEYBALL PREVIEW : Ribarich Key to Passing Tests : 5th-Year Senior Shoulders Large Load in Classroom, on Court

Tom Ribarich plans to carry quite a course load when Cal State Northridge begins its spring semester later this month.

Ribarich, an engineering major, is enrolled in 23 units--the bulk of which are upper division.

That’s almost twice as many as the 12 units most athletes take during their semester of competition.

Classes aren’t the only challenge Ribarich will shoulder in the coming months.

On Friday, the Northridge men’s volleyball team opens its season at the 24-team UC Santa Barbara Invitational tournament. And Ribarich, a fifth-year senior setter, is being charged with the responsibility of engineering the Matadors’ drive to what would be their first NCAA playoff appearance.

“I think he’ll be one of the best setters in the league,” said John Price, who begins his fourth season as Matador coach. “He made a big turnaround last year and his experience is really going to help us.”

If Ribarich can complete all 23 units, he will graduate in May and join his brother, John--a former All-American setter at Hawaii--playing professionally in Switzerland.

His main concern, however, is keeping Northridge on a season-long high.

Last season, the Matadors finished 15-9 overall and 7-11 in the powerful Division I Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Assn. They fell just short of qualifying for a regional berth.

Despite establishing a school record for conference wins, the Northridge players had no one to blame but themselves for wasting several opportunities that might have landed them in postseason play.

After dominating Cal State Long Beach and Stanford in home matches, the Matadors lost to both teams with uninspired efforts on the road. Northridge, which finished 12th in the Tachikara coaches’ poll, beat San Diego State on the road then sleepwalked through a home match and lost.

“It was all part of the learning curve for our program,” Price said. “We were good last year and the players knew it. The second step was learning that when you’re good, you have to go hard all the time.”

For Ribarich, maturation as a leader had more to do with knowing when to let up.

Ribarich was accustomed to success when he arrived at Northridge in 1984. He grew up in Brentwood and played volleyball at Palisades High--a perennial City Section power.

“I was really feisty and cocky,” Ribarich said before practice Wednesday. “I had the totally wrong attitude that a setter needs to have. He has to support the team. He has to bring guys up.

“During my first couple years, I’d just rag on people. If they hit a ball out, I’d get on their case.”

Because of Ribarich’s antics, the Northridge coaching staff often resorted to similar tactics.

“He definitely had what we call the ‘Palisades attitude’ ” said Price, who was an assistant coach at the time. “He was cocky beyond realism--not real team-oriented or real concerned what teammates and other people thought.

“But he’s evolved into a team, do-anything type of player, and he’s capable of leading us into the playoffs.”

Teammates apparently feel the same way. They elected Ribarich captain of a unit that will be without 6-foot, 7-inch middle blocker Jeff Campbell, an honorable mention All-American who teamed with 6-6 Robert Samuelson to give Northridge one of the most powerful attacks in the conference.

Campbell decided to skip his final season of eligibility because of chronic knee problems. Had he returned, CSUN would be talented and deep. Without him . . .

“The biggest area it hurts us is depth, not talent,” Price said. “We have so many fifth-year seniors, there is a real team orientation. There’s not as much individuality as we have had in past years.

“We’re capable of playing as a team this year and that wasn’t always the case in the past.”

Ribarich (6-1), Samuelson, outside hitter Andrew Greskovics and middle blocker Ron Graening are fifth-year seniors who will start for the Matadors.

Raphael Tulino, a sophomore middle blocker, and outside hitter Neil Coffman, a redshirt sophomore from Chatsworth High and UC Santa Barbara, round out the starting lineup.

Key reserves include hitter Joe Sorenson, a redshirt junior from Pierce; freshman middle blocker Mike Marzahl from Reseda High; and setters Tony Rusen, a senior, and Matt Unger, a freshman.

After the Santa Barbara Invitational, Northridge will play preconference matches against Chapman and UC San Diego. The Matadors open WIVA play Jan. 24 at Pepperdine.

“We’re highly talented,” Ribarich said, “I can’t see us losing.

“The problem in the past has been that not a lot of guys knew what it feels like to win. But after last year that should all change.”