Northridge Wins Four, Then Bows to Host UCSB in Volleyball Invitational

Cal State Northridge setter Matt Unger was seeing red Friday night at UC Santa Barbara and the Matadors were left bloodied after a 17-15, 17-16 loss to the host Gauchos in second-round pool play at the Collegiate Invitational men’s volleyball tournament.

With Northridge leading, 14-12, in Game 1, Unger was called for an overlap when the official said he stepped in front of Axel Hager before a UCSB serve. Not only did that violation cost the Matadors a point, but when Unger complained about the call, he was hit with a red card that tied the game.

The Gauchos, ranked eighth nationally in preseason polls, hung on to win the first game and went ahead, 13-7, in Game 2. But after Northridge clawed back in front, 15-14, the Matadors made three hitting errors and lost the match.

“I saw (the official) look at me, so I stepped back behind Axel,” Unger said of the overlap call. “I went up to him and said ‘I can’t believe you called that. It was a . . . call.’ He’s supposed to give a warning with a yellow card, but he gave me a red card instead.”

The loss spoiled a stellar performance by Hager. The 6-foot-8 senior outside hitter piled up 25 kills to lead an attack hampered by the absence of senior All-American middle blocker Coley Kyman. Kyman underwent arthroscopic surgery on the back of his right knee to remove damaged cartilage Thursday and should miss two weeks.

Northridge plays defending national champion Pepperdine at 9 a.m. and UC Irvine at 11:30 a.m. today to conclude pool play. Should the Matadors win both matches, they will play for third place in the 24-team tournament at 5 p.m. A loss in either match would force Northridge, fourth-ranked nationally, to play at 2 p.m. for fifth place.

Earlier, Northridge seemed ready to give Pacific, one of two new members of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, a conference-warming gift to open second-round pool play before winning, 15-12, 15-10.

The Matadors allowed the Tigers to stay even in the first game before sophomore outside hitter Peter Piexoto sparked Northridge with his enthusiastic play off the bench.

Pacific stormed to a 7-2 lead in game two before Price again found a spark plug on his bench. Switching Unger at setter for Chris McGee, the Matadors roared back to forge a 10-7 edge and were not threatened.

Sparked by the spiking of weakside hitter Ken Lynch, the Matadors played well enough to win in three first-round group matches against Arizona State (15-13, 15-7), Nevada (15-8, 15-2), and British Columbia (15-7, 15-2).