Matadors Turn Tide on Waves : College volleyball: After false start, Northridge rallies for 2-15, 15-10, 15-13, 15-9 victory to reach tournament final.

Coley Kyman had a solemn expression as he stood near a close friend, consoling him.

A few minutes before, Tom Sorenson, a fellow All-American volleyball player, had his collegiate career come to an end.

Kyman helped finish it off.

“I feel bad,” Kyman said, stepping away for a moment. “I know how it is. I’ve been there.”

And he would rather not go back.

Kyman and Cal State Northridge moved to within one victory of the NCAA final four, downing Sorenson and third-ranked Pepperdine, 2-15, 15-10, 15-13, 15-9, Friday at the Bren Events Center at UC Irvine.

The Matadors (21-9) will meet Cal State Long Beach (18-12) tonight at 7 in the championship match of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament. The winner will join top-ranked UCLA, Penn State and Ohio State in the NCAA championship tournament Friday at Pauley Pavilion.

Long Beach defeated Stanford, 15-13, 10-15, 15-9, 15-11.

Fourth-ranked Northridge, which has a five-match winning streak, survived a slow start before turning back the defending national champion Waves (18-6).

Well, perhaps slow isn’t the correct word. Pathetic, maybe?

John Price, Northridge’s coach, said he didn’t know quite what to think as Pepperdine dealt the Matadors their worst single-game loss of the season in the first game.

“I sat there wondering what it is about Pepperdine that makes us go in the tank,” he said. “I can’t say they were doing anything special, except maybe getting their serve in. We just couldn’t pass.”

But as soon as the Matadors settled down, it was Pepperdine on the run.

With Axel Hager bending in jump serves at the Waves, Northridge got off to a 3-0 advantage in the second game and was never headed in a 15-10 victory. More importantly, Price said, the Matadors became the aggressor in the match.

“It’s a mentality,” Price said. “It’s the difference between taking a match to them or letting them take it at you.”

Northridge attacked Pepperdine far differently than it had USC in the first round of the tournament on Wednesday.

Quick hits by Kyman and Craig Hewitt drove nails into the Trojan coffin. Against Pepperdine, the Matadors advanced on the Waves from the perimeter.

Ken Lynch did much of the damage for Northridge, spiking a match-high 31 kills and hitting for a 40.3 percentage. Hager lent support from the opposite side, hitting 32.4% and finishing with 17 kills.

“They scouted us well,” said setter Matt Unger, who set an orderly table for the Matadors throughout the match. “They saw the way we went at SC with quicks and they were double- and triple-teaming Coley and Hewitt.”

Which often left Lynch and Hager facing a single blocker--a mismatch no matter who the defender is, Unger said.

Spectacular defensive play allowed Pepperdine to battle on even terms with Northridge until late in the third game. With the Waves leading, 13-12, Northridge received a boost when Verna Klubinik, the head referee, overruled a call by a linesman.

The linesman called a spike by Sorenson in, but Klubinik waved it off, ruling instead that the shot was long. That tied the score and the Matadors scored the final two points to close out the game.

“That was a pivotal call,” said Pepperdine Coach Marv Dunphy, who added that he was not in position to see where the ball hit. “If we win that game, we’re still playing.”

Price’s perch was much closer. He said he thought Sorenson’s shot was in. “But my assistant, Jeff Campbell, was sitting right next to me and he said it was out,” Price said.

The split decision, in this case, did not go to the defending champion.

Northridge, led by Lynch and Hager, dominated the fourth and final game. Lynch contributed 10 blocks, including two solo efforts, in addition to matching Sorenson with 31 kills.

Afterward, Lynch, who has been playing with a strained back, sat gingerly on the Northridge bench. “The pain is still there, but at least it’s not shooting down my legs anymore,” he said. “I can play with it like this. Tonight I had a rhythm.”

Indeed, Northridge’s entire lineup appears to finally be in tune. “This is what I knew we could do,” Unger said. “It’s the playoffs and we’re turning it on.”

Having been shown exactly that, Sorenson had some postgame advice for a friend.

“He told me to go get a ring,” Kyman said, referring to a national championship band. “That’s what we’re all pushing for.”