Stone, Clements Receive an Assist at Northridge

In some ways, the Cal Sate Northridge women’s volleyball team mirrors those of the Matadors’ three previous teams at the NCAA Division I level, but in others it does not.

While four players--Aimee Stone, Missy Clements, Ana Kristich and Heather Anderson--have each accounted for at least 14% of the Matadors’ kill attempts, Stone (28.6%) and Clements (26.0%) have taken a larger piece of the total attempts pie than any of their predecessors.

Kathleen Dixon (1990) and Nancy Nicholls (’91 and ‘92) led the Matadors in kill attempts during the previous three seasons, but Dixon only accounted for 19.4% of the team’s kill attempts and Nicholls checked in at 21.7% last year and 17.5% in ’91.

“My philosophy is that you set the ball to your best hitters, whether or not the defense knows you’re going to do it or not,” interim coach John Price said.

“And I really think (Aimee and Missy) are two of the better outside hitters in the country.”

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Football Coach Bob Burt broke tradition last Saturday when the Matadors won the coin toss and elected to receive against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

“Normally, we defer on the kickoff, but I decided to take the ball right away and get ourselves in a position where we could gain some confidence in the offense,” Burt said.

It was a wise decision.

The Matadors did not score, but they established their ground game and gave quarterback Clayton Millis a confidence boost.

Tailback Robert Trice broke loose for a 23-yard gain on his first carry and Millis, making a start in place of injured J.J. O’Laughlin, connected with Duc Ngo for a 32-yard gain on his first pass.

Trice went on to gain 187 yards in 33 carries, Millis completed 11 of 25 passes for 177 yards and a touchdown, and Northridge won, 22-14.

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Matador defender Ross Linhart played in only seven of the team’s 21 soccer matches this season after injuring his hamstring before a Sept. 12 match against Washington. “It turned out to be a lot more serious than it was diagnosed,” Coach Marwan Ass’ad said. “If I had known, I would have given him all of September to recover.”

Linhart played sporadically in September and missed the last two weeks of the regular season. He returned in the Matadors’ 1-0 victory over Air Force in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation semifinals but did not play in the 2-0 championship loss to UCLA.

“The injury to Ross Linhart was a major, major blow to our defense,” Ass’ad said. “He makes our back line 50% better, not because he’s an incredibly great player, but because he makes everyone around him better.”

Ass’ad called this season “a breakthrough year” for the Matadors, who advanced to the postseason for the first time since joining Division I in 1990.

“I can’t tell you how happy I am with this year and this team,” he said.

The Matadors (12-9) lose only three starters--seniors Armando Valdivia, Todd Biefeld and Teddy Davila.

“I think next year we could be Top 20 the whole year,” goalie Mark Macdonald said. “We just need to find a player to replace Armando Valdivia.”

Easier said than done. Valdivia finished his career ranked in the top four in school history in goals (37), assists (37) and points (111).

CAL LUTHERAN

Costly Turnovers

In its last three losses, the Cal Lutheran football team has led in the second quarter. Each time, the Kingsmen have turned the ball over in their territory with less than two minutes left in the first half and lost their lead.

On Oct. 9 against the University of San Diego, the Toreros’ Shaun Grove intercepted a pass by Cal Lutheran’s Adam Hacker at the Kingsmen 16-yard line with 56 seconds remaining, setting up a touchdown that tied the score, 14-14. San Diego went on to win, 27-21.

Against Redlands three weeks later, a fumbled snap with 1 minute 37 seconds remaining, also at the Cal Lutheran 16, set up a touchdown that put Redlands ahead, 10-7. Redlands eventually won in overtime, 23-17. Saturday at Occidental, the Tigers’ Andrew Wind intercepted Hacker’s pass at the Kingsmen 39 and returned it for a touchdown with 1:54 left. That capped a 21-point second quarter that put Occidental ahead, 28-14, en route to a 45-28 victory.

Keeping turnovers to a minimum has been one of Cal Lutheran’s strengths. The Kingsmen have only seven interceptions and four lost fumbles in eight games.

Around the Campuses. . .

* Quarterbacks Davis Delmatoff of Pierce and Sean Fitzgerald of Valley were named tri-offensive players of the week in the Western State Conference with L.A. Southwest quarterback Sheldon Anderson. Delmatoff passed for 218 yards and ran for two touchdowns in a 31-29 victory over West L.A. Fitzgerald passed for 316 yards and five touchdowns in a 38-35 loss to Southwest. Anderson passed for 193 yards and a touchdown and scored the winning touchdown against Valley on a 70-yard run with 1:30 to play.

* Moorpark is ranked 11th in the state football poll, moving up two notches from the previous week.

* Pierce wide receiver David Doyle is second in the state in receiving, averaging eight receptions per game. Greg Quesada of Los Medanos leads with a 9.9 average.

* Northridge’s Stone, with four service aces Wednesday against the University of San Diego, moved into a tie for third place on the school’s women’s volleyball single-season list with 58. Kristy Olson had 58 in 1984. Kristich has 107 block assists, which puts her in a tie for sixth on the single-season list with Dixon (1990).

Kennedy Cosgrove, Jon Weisman and staff writers Fernando Dominguez and Mike Hiserman contributed to this notebook.