Baer Comes Out of Hibernation : Northridge’s 6-5 Middle Blocker Finally Turns Ferocious

There goes Jon Baer for a spike. He pumps up, jumps high, winds his muscular arm and, wham! He smacks the heck out of the white leather volleyball.

In your face!

The scene has been repeated many times this season. It’s a regular rerun of the Cal State Northridge volleyball team, which is in second place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Mountain Division.

Baer, a muscular 6-foot-5 senior middle blocker, is an imposing figure with great athletic skills. Not only is he big and strong, he’s extremely quick and agile.

He is best known for drilling the ball through the opponent’s territory. He’s also a solid blocker. Baer leads the Matadors with 371 kills and 89 solo blocks.

It is Baer who has fueled CSUN during bad times. When the team is down, he is the one who usually pumps it up with spectacular plays and displays of emotion.

He has sparked the Matadors to an 11-5 record this season, making big plays in crucial situations.

“He’s a scary guy to play against,” USC Coach Jim McLaughlin said. “He’s a tremendous asset to their team.”

Just last season Baer, who played at his natural position of outside hitter, spent a great deal of time on the bench.

He was ambitious and full of fire, but simply inconsistent and perhaps too enthusiastic. When Baer was on he was terrific, but often he was off and that meant big problems for the Matadors, who finished with a 17-10 record.

The power was there and so was the desire but Baer’s skills were in desperate need of fine-tuning. He had lots of work to do.

Whenever Coach John Price put him into a match, it was like gambling. He knew it could go either way. Baer could make some great plays and help the team turn around, or he could smack a few balls out or into the net and the Matadors would go flat.

“Last year we’d put him in and he’d have six kills and five errors,” Price said. “People would still come up to me and ask, ‘Why doesn’t that guy play more?’ ” He’s so athletic that he even looks good making errors. It’s really impressive to watch him.”

Price moved Baer to middle blocker this season to make room for outside hitter Jason Hughes in the starting lineup.

Baer, 22, adjusted fine. He started the season on fire and was named MPSF player of the week on Feb. 6. Last week he was named to the all-star team at the ASICS tournament in Long Beach. Bear has led the Matadors in kills in 11 of 16 matches.

Price says Baer works harder at practice now. He’s much-more dedicated than in previous seasons and a lot more disciplined.

“He’s always been a pretty talented guy,” Price said. “I think the biggest difference now is that he’s matured and grown as a person, which in turn has made him grow as a player.”

Baer also gained 20 pounds of muscle, the result of an intense weight-training regimen, and worked on his game.

“I worked like I’ve never worked before,” Baer said. “I really wanted to improve and I went at it hard. I was really dedicated.”

Baer started playing volleyball at 16, later than most Division I college players. Track was his sport growing up in Los Angeles. He was a sprinter and long-jumper at University High before the volleyball bug bit him.

“One day (as a sophomore) I walked into the gym during volleyball practice and I really liked it,” he said. “So I quit track and joined the JV team. At first I was horrible.”

Baer also played at University as a junior, then transferred to Bullard High in Fresno to be near his father, who was terminally ill. Baer’s father died one month before his high school graduation.

The emotional trauma didn’t prevent him from excelling in his new sport. As a senior in 1990, Baer was an All-Yosemite League pick who led the team to a 28-0 record and the Central Section championship.

Baer made a verbal commitment to Northridge but enrolled at Pepperdine instead. He received some financial aid but no scholarship at Pepperdine, playing in 13 games as a freshman.

Financial difficulties forced Baer to leave Pepperdine after one season. He enrolled at Santa Monica College, where he didn’t play volleyball, and ended up at CSUN in 1993 after Matador assistant Jeff Campbell spotted him in a two-man grass tournament.

“Jeff is the reason Jon is here,” Price said. “Jeff said, ‘Let’s give him a second chance. We need a player like that in our program.’ ”

Baer also had reservations about playing for the Matadors because he didn’t follow through on his commitment as a freshman. Before committing to the Matadors a second time he considered Long Beach State, but was discouraged when he visited the school and saw his name on a board with the phrase “high risk” next to it.

“That really made me mad,” Baer said. “Still, I knew how badly I had disappointed Price. But there was the prestige of Pepperdine and the fact that they had won two national championships. I got caught up in all that.”

Baer competed in U.S. Olympic Festivals in 1993 and ’94. In ’94 he was a starter on the East team that won a silver medal in St. Louis.

Participating in such events helped him gain confidence. Now he knows that almost as often as not, whenever he winds up and goes for a kill he will succeed.