Upwardly Mobile CS Northridge Sets Sights on Title : Men’s volleyball: Senior-laden Matadors believe that steady improvement of past three seasons can culminate in a national championship.

Step by arduous step, Cal State Northridge has climbed toward the summit of collegiate men’s volleyball: a national championship.

Three years ago, the Matadors qualified for their first postseason conference tournament--and were turned away in the opening round. The following season, Northridge reached the semifinals.

Then, last season, the Matadors advanced to the conference tournament final, standing one win from a berth in the NCAA Final Four when their season ended in a familiar chorus.

Wait ‘til next year, they said after finishing 19-12.

“I’ve been here four years and it’s always been, ‘Next year, next year, next year,’ ” said Coley Kyman, Northridge’s All-American middle blocker. “Now there is no next year. It has to be this year.”

Kyman, perhaps the best player in Northridge history, is a senior. So are middle blocker Ken Lynch, another four-year starter; Axel Hager, a two-year fixture at outside hitter, and Matt Unger, the team’s setter.

Kyman, Lynch and Unger have been together since they were freshmen, helping lift Northridge from perennial also-ran status to the brink of national prominence.

But good is no longer good enough.

The Matadors, who open their season Friday in the UC Santa Barbara tournament, are ranked No. 4 in preseason polls. There was a time, not too many years ago, that such a forecast in itself was cause for celebration. No longer.

“They expect to be up there with the big boys,” Northridge Coach John Price said of his players. “They’ve earned it.”

Like Northridge, top-ranked UCLA has all six starters back. Second-rated Pepperdine, the defending national champion, and third-ranked Stanford, last season’s runner-up, each have five starters back.

The name has changed--the Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Assn., which produced every national champion in 23 years of NCAA men’s volleyball, has added UC San Diego and Pacific and is now called the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation--but most of the players are the same.

“There are so many great players out there, so many good teams,” Price said.

So what will separate them?

“When so many teams are so close, factors other than talent tend to decide things,” Price said. “Unfortunately, luck is a factor I can’t control. Just because you work hard and have talent, there’s no guarantee.”

Injuries could decide the winner, and Northridge already has been hit. Returning starter Craig Hewitt, who led the team in blocking last season, has a sore knee. So does Cameron Green, a promising freshman who is battling junior Greg Weaver, the incumbent, at one of the outside hitter spots. Gary Reznick, who is pushing Unger at setter, has a sprained ankle. Jamal Thompson, a top front-row reserve, has a hip injury.

Kyman, too, is hobbling because of a sore right knee. He is scheduled to have arthroscopic surgery today to repair cartilage damage and should be at full strength in two weeks.

“He’s always hurt,” Price said. “But he’s probably the best I’ve ever seen playing in pain. He’s had some of his best matches when he’s hurt.

“I’ve been around a lot of great competitors and he’s one of the best. If I had to pick a team to win one game, he’d be my first pick. And Unger would probably be my second.”

Kyman’s injury forced him to the bench for practice last week, but he said the time watching was well spent.

“In just a week our defense changed dramatically, just by putting effort in and working to take that extra step to be a better defensive team,” Kyman said. “That’s the bottom line for us. Defense. We have guys who can hit and we have the great setters. If we want to block and want to play defense, we’re going to be as good as we want to be.”

Price also places emphasis on defense. And he said that last season’s Matadors were the top defensive squad the school has had.

“That’s just an example of how bad we’ve been in the past,” Price said. “There were times last year when we were still very poor.

“Defense is not glamorous and as a result people don’t tend to work as hard at it. But at the end of a season, when you need that one game, defense is what gets it for you.”

Continued improvement from Hewitt and more consistent defensive play from Kyman and Lynch are keys to the Matadors’ development.

Price said Lynch is “more tuned in and motivated” than he has been in the past. “At the beginning of last year, the first half of the season, he was the best player in the league,” Price said. “Better than Coley, better than (Cal State Long Beach’s Brent) Hilliard or (Pepperdine’s Tom) Sorenson or anyone. But then he tapered off.”

Better defense from Hager, who Price once called “the worst 6-foot-8 blocker in the world,” also would solidify the Matadors. “He could be very good,” Price said of the Hamburg, Germany, import. “He’s made some big strides.”

Generating offense should not be a problem. Kyman might be the nation’s best when it comes to scoring from the middle and Lynch is among the federation’s heavy hitters.

The field at Santa Barbara includes the top five ranked teams in the nation.

Price considers the tournament “an opportunity to make a statement” that Northridge belongs among the nation’s elite. Northridge opens pool play at 9 a.m. Friday against Arizona State.

“Part of me is saying we need to go up there and play as well as we can and establish ourselves,” Price said. “The other part of me says, don’t kill your starters. We have two weeks after that before league play starts. Split up the time.”

Kyman doesn’t seem to mind if he’s not completely healthy for the start. He just wants to be around for what he hopes will be a dramatic conclusion to his career.

“It’s not just the ring I want,” he said. “It’s something to cherish with these guys that I’ve worked with for four years of my life. I want us to be able to walk away with our heads up, knowing we’re the best.”