Northridge Hitters Come Out Swinging : College volleyball: Fast start powers Matadors past Loyola, 15-2, 15-13, 15-10.

The way Cal State Northridge started out against Loyola Marymount on Friday night, one might have thought the entire Matador men’s volleyball team was late for a dinner date.

Or maybe it was Loyola’s fault. Were the Lions sloppy on purpose, perhaps preferring to take a loss and bolt rather than stick around the newly christened “Epicenter,” for fear of another aftershock?

Whatever the reason, Northridge needed to work much harder in the last two games than it did the first one during a 15-2, 15-13, 15-10 sweep of Loyola in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match before 391.

The first game was over in 21 minutes. And it would not have lasted that long had the Lions not taken a 2-0 lead.

From that point on, however, the Matadors had the Lions by the tail. Or, as Northridge setter Gary Reznick put it, “Everyone was on fire.”

Oliver Heitmann, the Matadors’ German import, was a commanding presence in the middle alongside Craig Hewitt. The 6-foot-7 twin towers were simply too tall and too physical for Loyola.

Heitmann, who came to Northridge from Hamburg, had 16 kills and had a match-high .581 hitting percentage. Hewitt had 14 kills and a .385 attacking percentage.

From the outside, Jon Baer was not quite as effective percentage-wise, but he had 19 kills.

Baer, making his debut as a starter, was not even on the Northridge roster two months ago. Last fall, he quit the team for what Price said were “personal reasons.”

The 6-5 junior from Los Angeles rejoined the team in January and never skipped a beat.

“He was never Mr. Ball Control to start with, and I expected him to take a while to get back in shape,” Price said. “He’s been a surprise.”

So, too, has been the play of Collin Smith. The freshman from Santa Cruz had 11 digs for Northridge (5-3, 1-1 in conference play).

The Lions (3-8, 2-4) had their only look at the match when they had Northridge down, 11-6, in the second game. Loyola led, 9-8, in the third game, but Price at that point turned to his bench.

The coach summoned Chris McGee, a popular senior, and sent him in to replace Reznick.

The charge on Reznick: “He went away from our bread and butter,” Price said. In other words, Hewitt and Heitmann weren’t getting enough sets.

McGee changed that, ignited the crowd, and even served out the final two points of the match.