COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL PREVIEW CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE : Returnees Defined by Quality

Although the Cal State Northridge men’s volleyball team has only three returning starters, Coach John Price refuses to call this a rebuilding year.

His logic is as sound as the trio is gifted. Junior middle blocker Coley Kyman is an All-American, junior Matt Unger is a superb setter and junior middle blocker Ken Lynch is a .331 hitter. The Matadors might not have quantity, but they have quality.

Which is not to say that replacing Neil Coffman, Rafael Tulino and Mark Root will be easy. Along with Kyman, Unger and Lynch, the team went 22-7 last season and finished ranked third in the nation.

Axel Hagar, a 6-foot-8 outside hitter from Germany, is expected to expertly fill one of the vacancies. “Passing is his biggest asset, which is extremely rare in a guy 6-8,” Price said. “But he’s also a good blocker and attacker. He’s a complete player.”

Greg Weaver, a sophomore from Chatsworth High, is vying with freshman Peter Piexoto of Santa Cruz for the other outside hitter berth. Craig Hewitt, a sophomore from Chatsworth High, is competing with freshman Gene Urcan, his former Chatsworth teammate, for the other middle blocker position.

All four, as well as back-row specialist Mike Mesnik, will play regardless of who starts.

“We have enough talent on the court to pull those (two) spots along,” Price said. “Coley and Matt and Ken know how to win and what it takes to win. We’ve always had talented people but they haven’t always known how to win. Last year was a nice year, but you gotta do it two to three years in a row before you start patting yourself on the back.”

Kyman, one of only six American Volleyball Coaches Assn. first-team All-Americans as a sophomore, ranked 10th nationally in kills last season with 546, an average of five a game.

After competing for the United States in the Pan American Games team last August in Cuba, Kyman suffered a broken collar bone in September while playing quarterback for the Northridge football team.

The injury healed in time for Kyman to begin preparations for the volleyball season, but Monday he suffered another setback, a severely sprained right ankle that might keep him out of the opener Tuesday against George Mason in Fairfax, Va.

“I’d hate to miss the first trip,” Kyman said. “Trips are fun and you get closer to your teammates.”

Because of a scheduling quirk, the sixth-ranked Matadors will begin play almost three weeks after the other Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Assn. teams started their seasons. Consequently, Northridge had four weeks of preparation, including three weeks of two-a-day practices.

“Normally, I wouldn’t like to have that much practice,” Price said. “But this year, with three new starters coming in, I think it has been a plus for us.”

There are two potentially nightmarish stretches in the Northridge schedule. In an 11-day span from late February to March 7, the Matadors will play six matches, five of them WIVA contests. Then, from March 17-27, they will play six matches--all of them in the WIVA.

“If we’re playing well we can’t play fast enough,” Price said. “But if there is an injury or illness those two stretches could hurt us.”

Northridge led the nation in home attendance last season with an average of 886, but only eight of its 19 matches are at Matador Gymnasium.

The Matadors’ first trip is their longest. After the match Tuesday at George Mason, they will play Wednesday at Penn State, and Friday through Saturday in the Hall of Fame tournament in Springfield, Mass.

Northridge’s debut in the Southland is Feb. 12 at USC. The Matadors’ home opener is not until Feb. 28, against UC Irvine.