MEN’S VOLLEYBALL : UCLA Wins in Sweep of Northridge

So much for first impressions.

Early in Saturday night’s Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men’s volleyball match between UCLA and Cal State Northridge, Northridge Coach John Price was confident.

“My first thought was we might get them tonight,” Price said. “They’re weren’t tuned in.”

Maybe not at first. But the top-ranked Bruins quickly rebounded to sweep the fourth-ranked Matadors, 15-11, 15-11, 15-7, at Pauley Pavilion.

The Matadors, who have lost three matches in a row, probably need to win three of their last five conference matches to advance to the MPSF tournament, beginning April 28 in Irvine.

UCLA, which had not played in two weeks, improved to 17-2, 12-2 in conference matches. Northridge dropped to 15-8, 9-6 in the MPSF, and Price vowed changes in his approach during practice.

“We’re not going to ask them to do things, we’re going to demand it,” said Price, who endured what he described as “another frustrating night of volleyball.”

Though the Matadors played far better than they did during a four-game loss Thursday to USC, it wasn’t nearly good enough to challenge UCLA.

“We’re still not doing the little things,” Price said.

Jeff Nygaard, a sophomore middle-blocker from Madison, Wis., led UCLA with 23 kills. Mike Diehl added 21 kills.