For Matadors, the Loss Had Unique Aroma

Just when the Cal State Northridge football team thought things couldn’t get worse . . . they did.

As the Matadors trudged into the locker room at North Campus Stadium last Saturday night after a 31-30 defeat to Cal State Sacramento, the disconsolate group was met by the sound of water bubbling up through ground drainage vents.

By the time most of the Matadors showered and changed clothes, water was almost an inch deep on the floor--and rising.

Drains carrying water from the locker-room facilities and stadium bathrooms had clogged. The result, Coach Bob Burt said, was “a massive smell.”

Work crews spent most of Sunday working before they solved the problem. Attendants cleaned up the locker room.

But, in the coaches’ offices adjacent to the players’ area, a remnant of the flood remains: the odor.

“Part of it’s the sewage, but part is just the carpet and the mildew,” Burt said, as he toured the site with a visitor. “Can you imagine trying to work in there?”

No.

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The defensive player of the week in the American West Conference is Matador cornerback Ralph Henderson, who had eight solo tackles, three assists and two interceptions against Sacramento.

Those are impressive statistics and they must have swayed the conference officials who bestow the award. The numbers, in this case, do not tell the whole story.

Henderson was burned twice in key fourth-quarter situations as Sacramento rallied to nip the Matadors. The pass that beat Northridge--a 34-yard strike from Aaron Garcia to Jermaine Hollie with 3 minutes 47 seconds left in the game--came at Henderson’s expense.

“It was poor coverage,” Henderson said of the play. “It was ridiculous. A high school receiver could have beat me on that play.”

Barry Smith, Northridge’s sports information director, said he nominated Henderson for the conference award before Matador coaches pored over the game film.

“It didn’t say in the stats things you could see on film,” Smith said.

Of his award, Henderson said, “I don’t think I deserved it. I definitely played better other weeks.”

Indeed, he has. Henderson, a preseason Division I-AA All-American, is tied for second in the conference with three interceptions and is second on the team with 33 unassisted tackles.

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Ilkka Laine was forced to temporarily leave the Matador football team.

Injury? Academics? Financial hardship?

None of the above.

The 6-foot-1, 200-pound wide receiver had immigration problems.

The junior from Rauma, Finland, was required to return his native country last week to re-apply for a visa. Burt said Laine was expected to return to the team early next week.

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With nearly two-thirds of the regular season completed, women’s volleyball Coach John Price is still hoping that either Gretchen Gulbranson or Erin Balderama will lay claim to being the Matadors’ dominant setter.

Although Gulbranson has been Northridge’s starting setter for most of the season, Price has been subbing Balderama more frequently in the past four matches in hopes of getting more consistency at the position.

“In regards to the setter situation, we’re living and dying with them,” Price said after Tuesday’s three-game loss to UC Santa Barbara. “Our setting just hasn’t been consistent this season. (Gretchen and Erin have) both been very good at times, but both of them have had breakdowns in their game at others. That’s nothing against them; that’s just the way freshmen are, at least at Northridge.”

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Junior outside hitter Aimee Stone said that UC Santa Barbara was guilty of looking past the Matadors in the 15-4, 15-3, 16-14 victory, but that was hard to believe, at least during the first two games, when the Gauchos dominated Northridge, hitting .387 with no attacking errors.

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Armando Valdivia, a forward on the Matador soccer team, continued his torrid scoring pace by tallying a career-high nine points (three goals, three assists) Sunday against UC Irvine.

Valdivia, a senior, leads the Far West region in points (45), goals (15) and assists (15). He is on pace to finish in the top three in all categories on Matador career and single-season charts.

Sophomore defender Matt Davis had seven points in Northridge’s first 14 matches. But against the Anteaters, the transfer from Eastern Illinois doubled his season total by scoring a career-high seven points in one match. He scored three goals, his first hat trick, and had one assist.

JUNIOR COLLEGES

Pick of the Backfield

Taking three seasons off from football apparently hasn’t hampered Tony Upshaw.

A freshman free safety at Antelope Valley, Upshaw has four interceptions and is tied with Shamori Walker of Citrus for the lead among Foothill Conference players.

His last interception came with 1 minute 17 seconds to play Saturday to help preserve Antelope Valley’s 19-13 conference victory over Rio Hondo.

“He is developing into a very consistent player,” Marauder Coach Brent Carder said. “I think he is going to get better. He came in originally as a running back, but we needed help in the secondary early in the season. He has really helped us.”

Upshaw, 21, was a heralded tailback at Moorpark High. In 1989, his senior season, Upshaw rushed for 1,210 yards in 140 carries and scored 15 touchdowns. He was named the team’s most valuable player on offense.

But he took a hiatus since high school and returned to football this season.

“He called us last winter and asked us what he would have to do to be able to play football here,” Carder said.

Maybe the answer was, “Intercept a few passes.”

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Not only did Moorpark running back Gil Carrillo gain a game-high 143 yards in a 28-17 loss to Bakersfield in a Western State Conference game Saturday, but he did it in a flash.

Carrillo picked up 121 yards in about six minutes during the second quarter.

In a seven-play drive early in the period, Carrillo carried only once, but that was for 47 yards.

After Bakersfield was forced to punt, Carrillo went to the whip.

The sophomore from Simi Valley High carried seven times in an eight-play drive, including a run of 32 yards and three each of 11 yards. He capped the drive with a one-yard touchdown run over left tackle just before the half to give Moorpark a 17-14 edge.

Last season, Carrillo was second in the conference in rushing with 1,103 yards in 135 carries and 14 touchdowns. Former Valley tailback Howard Blackwell was first with 1,255 yards in 187 carries and 22 touchdowns.

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About 1,000 people attended the Midnight Madness practice of the Ventura men’s basketball team last weekend to catch a glimpse of Coach Philip Mathews’ 1993-94 squad and maybe win a few prizes in the process.

“They came from all points,” said Mathews, laughing. “They came to see the Pirates. It lasted until about 1 a.m. (Saturday). Everyone went away with a happy feeling.”

The event started at 11 p.m. Friday with a tailgate party in the parking lot by the gym and continued with three-point and free-throw shooting contests for the public. The team played a 20-minute intrasquad scrimmage.

“It was a tie,” Mathews said diplomatically, when asked the score.

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Freshman Tanya Janet was not mentioned among the top women’s cross-country runners at Glendale before the season, but she has worked her way up to the Vaqueros’ No. 5 position.

Janet began the season as Glendale’s No. 8 runner in the San Diego Mesa Invitational on Sept. 10. Two weeks later, she was the Vaqueros’ seventh runner in the first Western State Conference meet and was the No. 6 runner in the Irvine Invitational on Oct. 8.

Last Friday, she moved up to fifth on the team with a 36th-place finish in the invitational race of the Mt. San Antonio College Invitational.

CAL LUTHERAN

Almost on Empty

In a sport that requires five runners to make a team, Cal Lutheran has been running on less than a full tank.

For the third consecutive week, the Kingsmen did not place as a unit, this time in Saturday’s Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference eight-way dual meet at La Mirada Park. It’s a situation that shows little chance for immediate change.

Hired in late July, Cal Lutheran Coach Steve Hawkins had time to bring together only six runners for the start of the season, and Jed Colvin, James Emory, Matt Milnes and Jukka Siltanen have shown improvement.

But Eric Burkett ran only in the season-opening meet Sept. 22 before a back injury ended his season. And any hopes of getting back to the requisite five ended when Mike Velez did not show for the SCIAC duals.

Hawkins said that Velez would not run in the Kingsmen’s two remaining meets this season, although Hawkins expects the sophomore to rejoin the team for practice with an eye toward 1994.

For that matter, Hawkins hopes several more runners will be a part of the team next season.

“We’re trying to definitely provide people with the knowledge that there’s a program here,” Hawkins said.

Around the Campuses . . .

* Paul Krueger, the goalie for the Ventura water polo team, made the 500th save of his two-year career with the Pirates in a 17-12 victory over Rio Hondo on Tuesday. Krueger leads state goalies in saves with 299.

* Teammate Pedro De Lima leads state players in scoring with 116 goals. Ventura (18-7-1), which plays at Valley today, was ranked ninth in the state going into this week’s matches.

* Pathon Rucker of Glendale leads his nearest pursuer among WSC rushers by 349 yards. Rucker has 905 yards in 131 carries. Michael Black of West L.A. has 556 yards in 71 carries. Glendale, however, has played one more game (five) than West L.A..

* Pierce’s David Doyle leads WSC receivers with 396 yards in 38 receptions. Vince Lampkin of Valley is third with 238 yards in 23 catches. Mark Henrie of Moorpark, however, leads in yards-per-reception with a 23.2 average (11 catches for 255 yards).

* Moorpark kicker Steve Sabbe has made all of his 11 extra-point attempts.

* Valley quarterback Sean Fitzgerald can do it with his arm (1,189 yards passing and eight touchdowns) and his leg. Fitzgerald leads WSC punters with a 37.8 average.

* Aimee Stone’s 10 kills against Santa Barbara was her lowest total since a Sept. 17 match against Notre Dame when she also had 10. She averaged more than 23 kills per match in the previous five contests. Despite her total against Santa Barbara, Stone is averaging 4.31 kills, which is above the Northridge single-season record of 4.17 set by Kristy Olson in 1984.

* The men’s cross-country teams at Glendale and Antelope Valley are ranked sixth and eighth in the Southern California Junior College Coaches’ poll. The Glendale women are ranked fourth.

Jon Weisman and staff writers Fernando Dominguez, Mike Hiserman and John Ortega contributed to this notebook.

Cal State Northridge Rushing Leaders

SINGLE-SEASON RUSHING

Player Year Yards Mike Kane 1986 1,565 Albert Fann 1989 1,377 Albert Fann 1990 998 Albert Fann 1988 973 Mike Kane 1983 851 Albert Fann 1987 822 Robert Trice 1993 816

CAREER RUSHING

Player Years Yards Albert Fann 1987-90 4,170 Mike Kane 1983-86 3,572 Mike Maglione 1976-78 1,764 Mike Vogel 1966-68 1,498 Robert Trice 1992-93 1,294