CSUN Rolls to Victory in Tuneup : Women’s volleyball: Matadors sweep Cal State Fullerton (0-13) while looking ahead to tough tournament schedule.

Call it the calm before the storm.

The Cal State Northridge women’s volleyball team breezed to a 15-4, 15-3, 15-12 victory over winless Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday night in a nonconference match at Matador Gymnasium.

But the Matadors know the going will be much rougher starting Friday when Northridge opens play in the New Mexico tournament against the host Lobos, ranked No. 13 in the nation.

The Matadors will play 23rd-ranked Notre Dame on Saturday and Rice on Sunday.

“We wanted to use this as a match for getting ready for the weekend, as a tuneup,” senior outside hitter Shelly Swalec said. “We wanted to dominate, work on some things and get it over with as quickly as possible.”

The Matadors (15-6) accomplished their mission, taking only 1 hour 13 minutes to win their fifth match in a row.

Sophomore Debbie Bueche had seven kills and a .545 hitting percentage for the Matadors. Swalec added six kills and recorded a .308 hitting percentage and seven digs.

Molly McLaughlin, who started in place of Nancy Nicholls (tender right ankle), had five kills and 11 digs for Northridge. Nicholls played in only the third game, predominantly in the back row.

“Overall, we played solid,” Coach Walt Ker said. “We won the first two games by large margins, but it was more a case of Fullerton making a lot of errors than us playing great.”

Northridge trailed, 2-1, in game one but scored 14 of the last 16 points. The Matadors raced to a 14-0 lead in game two before settling for a 15-3 win.

Fullerton (0-13) appeared as lost in the second game as James B. Stockdale had been in Tuesday’s vice presidential debate.

Northridge dominated play so thoroughly the Matadors extended their lead from 3-0 to 13-0 with Dawn Krenik serving.

The Titans, who have won only seven games this season, played noticeably better in the third game.

Trailing, 13-6, Fullerton narrowed the deficit to 13-12, led by freshman outside hitter Lisa Parbst (seven kills).

Northridge completed the three-game sweep, however, with Nicholls serving.

Fullerton’s Alyssa Donaldson hit the ball into the net for a 14-12 Matador lead, and when McLaughlin’s kill attempt went out of bounds off a Titan block, Northridge had its eighth sweep of the season.

Although Nicholls had only one kill and five digs, Ker said the Matadors’ kill leader will start in the New Mexico tournament.

“As far as jumping and running, her physical performance is not affected by the injury,” Ker said. “But I know it’s still not as strong as it could be. I know that if she came down on somebody else’s foot tonight she could have re-injured it.”