USC Sweeps CSUN in Volleyball

Echoing the USC band’s relentless chant, the Trojan women’s volleyball team said, “U...S...See-ya!” to Cal State Northridge Saturday night, sweeping the Matadors 16-14, 15-8, 15-10 at the Lyon Center in a first-round NCAA tournament match.

It was the first appearance in the NCAA Division I playoffs for Northridge (27-8), which moved from Division II in 1990.

“The whole week we were jittery and hyper in practice,” Matador outside hitter Missy Clements said. “We knew we were making history.”

Whatever jitters Northridge may have had disappeared by Game 1.

The Matadors trailed, 3-0, but stormed back with eight points in a row. Northridge led, 14-12, and had five chances to serve out the game, but the Trojans (21-8) answered with a sideout each time.

At 14-14, senior Amy Sherman was inserted into the match and was called for an over-the-net violation, giving USC a 15-14 lead. USC middle blocker Cica Baccelli’s block on the subsequent point ended the game.

“The first game was very long and competitive and exhausting the whole way through,” Northridge’s Clements said.

The frustrating ending seemed to knock Northridge out of sync, and USC jumped to a 7-0 lead in the second game.

“We played a lot more tentative (in Game 2),” Clements said. ‘We were not playing as aggressively as we should have.”

The Matadors fought back to 11-8, but USC setter Sue Peters served four straight points, punctuating the run with an ace, and USC had a 2-0 game lead.

Game 3 was close throughout, but six Matador serving errors, including their last three serves of the match, cost them, and USC prevailed, 15-10.

Still, the Matadors, seeded sixth in the eight-team West region, made an impression on the third-seeded Trojans.

“I think it’s a real credit to them, playing independently, without a conference, to get into the (tournament),” USC Coach Linda Love said. “They’re our neighbors, we knew a lot about them. We had a lot of respect for them coming in.”

Northridge senior middle blocker Nancy Nicholls had 12 kills and a team-high 17 digs in her final collegiate game.