COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL / UC SANTA BARBARA TOURNAMENT : CSUN Places 5th After Pepperdine Puts on Clinic

The course could be titled “Advanced Men’s Volleyball.”

Defending national champion Pepperdine held a clinic for Cal State Northridge on Saturday at the 29th UC Santa Barbara Collegiate Invitational tournament.

The Matadors’ slim hopes of advancing to the tournament final were crushed as Pepperdine cruised to a 15-3, 15-5 victory in second-round pool play.

Later, Northridge settled for fifth place in the prestigious 24-team event by defeating UC Santa Barbara’s second team, 15-5, 15-5. The Gaucho reserves had shocked USC, 16-14, 6-15, 16-14, earlier in the day and upset California, 15-11, 6-15, 22-20, Friday night.

The Matadors, even without All-American middle blocker Coley Kyman, proved formidable in the victory over Santa Barbara and in an early-morning 15-7, 15-13 pool-play squashing of UC Irvine.

But in between, second-ranked Pepperdine showed fourth-ranked Northridge how much improvement is needed if the Matadors are to challenge for national honors.

Led by outside hitter Tom Sorenson with 13 kills and Braden Coenen’s solid blocking, the Waves took control early. Northridge never got its offense untracked and Pepperdine’s outstanding execution didn’t leave the Matadors much margin of error.

“It’s going to be a long week of practice for the boys,” Northridge Coach John Price said. “We’ve got to get a lot better at blocking, defense and serving.

“All of the problems we saw this weekend are repairable. We’re physically capable of doing the things we’re not doing.”

While the loss exposed Northridge shortcomings, the wins over Irvine and Santa Barbara revealed the Matadors’ strengths.

Sophomore outside hitter Peter Piexoto grabbed the spotlight with seven kills against Irvine and match highs of 12 kills and six digs against Santa Barbara. The Matadors’ new faster-paced attack showed promise against the Gauchos. Senior middle blocker Jamal Thompson, playing in place of Kyman (arthroscopic knee surgery), banged out 10 kills and three blocks.