COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL : Stanford Overcomes Errors, Northridge

Despite committing 22 service and 16 attack errors, Stanford wore down Cal State Northridge, 17-15, 15-7, 15-10, Saturday night to win the Western Intercollegiate Volleyball championship at UC Irvine.

The victory gave the Cardinal (23-3) the conference’s nomination for the lone at-large berth to the NCAA final four.

Northridge (19-12) rode an emotional roller coaster getting to the final, including a 2-hour 20-minute comeback upset of top-ranked Cal State Long Beach Friday night.

Both teams had to win two matches to reach the final, and Northridge had the more difficult route. Saturday night the fire simply wasn’t there.

“They did absolutely nothing that surprised us,” Matador Coach John Price said in describing his team’s blocking difficulties. “It just looked like we were lost up there. I don’t know why.”

Neither team was able to establish ball control, but Stanford got the best of what there was. The Cardinal hit .494, while Northridge hit .395, with 16 service errors, 27 attacking errors and 10 blocking errors.

“Both teams were a little physically tired and a lot mentally tired,” Cardinal Coach Ruben Nieves said.

The first game took an hour to complete. The Cardinal had 12 service errors, Northridge had eight.

An ace by Dave Goss of Stanford tied the score, 13-13. Poor ballhandling cost the Matadors the game. With the score tied, 15-15, Northridge middle blocker Ken Lynch sent long a set by teammate Matt Unger.

Stanford won it on the next serve when Unger was called for mishandling the ball while trying to save a bad dig by Alex Hager.

The turning point came midway through the second game, when Stanford broke a 3-3 tie on an 8-1 run with some fine blocking at the net.

Northridge was its own worst enemy during the swing. Stanford recorded six points from Matador errors, including four when Northridge attackers hit kill attempts into the net.

The Cardinal took a 10-4 lead in the final game. Northridge rallied to within 11-7, but the Cardinal, utilizing a block and a kill from Goss, was able to pull way.