Pepperdine Beats CSUN in Volleyball

The song “The Heat Is On” blared over the public-address system during warmups before Friday night’s pivotal Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Assn. match between third-ranked Cal State Northridge and fourth-ranked Pepperdine.

The song was appropriate with conference-leading Northridge nursing a half-game lead over Pepperdine in the WIVA DeGroot Division before the match.

But the once-hot Matadors, who had won seven of their past eight matches and 10 of 12, have suddenly cooled considerably.

Pepperdine dealt Northridge its second consecutive defeat, 15-10, 16-17, 15-2, 16-14, and dropped the Matadors into second place in the division before a WIVA season-high 2,591 at Northridge.

Pepperdine, which has split its last eight matches after a 14-0 start, improved to 18-4, 10-4 in division play, a half-game ahead of Northridge (15-8, 9-4).

The Matadors have three matches left and play host to UCLA on Tuesday.

“We’re still tied in the loss column. We still control our own destiny,” said Northridge Coach John Price, looking for a silver lining. “But our guys have got to get tough somehow. We just didn’t get it done. It’s frustrating.”

Northridge, which had won 14 consecutive home matches dating to last season before being upset by Santa Barbara on Wednesday, fell behind, 3-0, in game one but rallied to tie the Waves, 9-9. Pepperdine, getting seven kills from sophomore Alon Grinberg, scored six of the next seven points. Pepperdine rolled to a 10-5 lead in game two, but Northridge was able to rally again and tie the score, 12-12. Northridge fought off three game points and won, 17-16, when Ken Lynch and Craig Hewitt blocked Dain Blanton’s kill into an empty right corner.

But the Matadors went meekly in game three, and Pepperdine rallied from an 11-7 deficit in game four.