COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL : Stanford, CS Northridge Advance to WIVA Final

By PAUL McLEOD

April 18, 1992 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

The last time UCLA and Stanford met in volleyball, Cardinal outside hitter Dave Goss set an NCAA record with 55 kills in a 3-2 victory.

So when Goss leaped above the net for his first kill Friday night in the semifinals of the Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Assn. Tournament it was no surprise that UCLA had two of its best blockers up there with him.

“No hitter tries to think about that,” Goss said. “The key is for the team to realize it.”

Held to 22 kills, Goss still got just what he wanted. Cardinal teammates Duncan Blackman and Ryan Moos combined for 39 kills, many of them coming off sets by Canyon Ceman, as Stanford took a relatively easy 3-0 victory at the Bren Center at UC Irvine.

The 15-10, 15-9, 15-11 victory sent Stanford (22-3) into the championship match tonight at 7:30 against Cal State Northridge, a comeback winner over Cal State Long Beach.

UCLA, which had a nine-game winning streak ended, finished the season with a 17-7 record.

Neither team hit exceptionally well.

“We just weren’t putting the ball away tonight,” UCLA Coach Al Scates said. The Bruins’ hitting percentage was .290.

Goss, the nation’s second-ranked hitter, hit only .224 for Stanford. But thanks to Blackman (.469) and Moos (.481) the Cardinal hit .372.

“This was much more of a team effort than the first time we played UCLA,” Blackman said.

UCLA took early leads in each of the three games. The Cardinal broke a 6-6 tie in the first game with a 9-4 run; snapped a 4-4 tie in the second by scoring the next five points en route to victory and, after falling behind 9-3, outscored the Bruins, 6-2, to close out the match.

In the late game, Cal State Northridge battled back to advance into tonight’s final with a 6-15, 4-15, 15-10, 17-15, 15-12 victory over Cal State Long Beach. Setter Matt Unger put the game away for the Matadors by blocking a hit from Brett Schroeder of Long Beach.

It was the third consecutive loss for the 49ers, who entered the tournament ranked No. 1 in the nation.