THE COLLEGES / IRENE GARCIA : After Years of Winning, Northridge Lost Way

The Cal State Northridge women’s volleyball team, in past years one of the school’s most consistent and successful programs, is having its worst season.

“It’s because of inexperience,” said captain Erin Balderama, the Matadors’ only returning starter. “We’re fighting, but sometimes it’s hard to fight back with such a young team.”

How bad are the Matadors? Northridge went into Wednesday night’s losing match at Cal State Fullerton with a 1-21 record and an 18-game losing streak.

The Matadors’ only victory was a sweep against Eastern Michigan at the San Francisco tournament on Sept. 1.

Dry spell doesn’t begin to describe this team’s problems, but lack of power might. Northridge had a .126 hitting percentage compared to its opponents’ .257.

If you play NCAA Division I volleyball, you have to hit, and the Matadors obviously aren’t.

How bad are they in this area? Second-year Coach Lian Lu moved Balderama, a 5-foot-7 defensive specialist, to outside hitter because the real hitters weren’t getting the job done.

One person can’t save a team with six starters, however.

Just ask Northridge assistant sports information director Ryan Finney. Traveling with the women’s volleyball team this season brings him horrific memories of the torture he experienced with the women’s basketball team in 1994.

That team broke a school record for losses and ended the season with a 1-26 mark.

“The morale is really low among players, but I must say it’s not as bad as the women’s basketball team last year,” Finney said.

“Still, this is beyond the worst volleyball team in our history. In school history the volleyball team never even lost five games in a row.”

*

The tradition of strong women’s volleyball programs at Northridge spans three decades.

Under Coach Walt Ker, the Matadors won three NCAA Division II championships and had 15 winning seasons. Even after jumping to Division I in 1990, Northridge continued to win.

The Matadors went 72-35 during their first three seasons at the higher level and didn’t have a losing campaign (12-17) until 1993, after Ker resigned and men’s Coach John Price took over on an interim basis.

Northridge got back on track in ’94. Lu led the team to a 23-8 record and the National Invitational Volleyball Championship title.

That team got off to a slow start, but won 16 of its final 18 matches, including its last 11.

Five starters are gone from that roster and three freshmen start this season, so few expected a repeat performance. But Northridge should be winning more.

Lu says that’s a difficult task considering he doesn’t have any new, top-notch players.

“We had three seasons with no recruiting,” he said. “In 1992 Ker didn’t recruit, in 1993 John Price was only filling in so he didn’t bring in any new players. In ’94 I tried to recruit but the earthquake really hurt.

“Four or five of the players I wanted still wanted to come but their parents didn’t want them to.”

Let’s not overlook the comparative difficulty of the Matadors’ schedule. They have faced defending NCAA champion Stanford, powerhouse Penn State and highly regarded teams such as San Diego State and USC.

But Northridge has also played weaker opponents. Only eight of the Matadors’ losses have been against teams ranked among the nation’s top 25.

And it’s not like the Matadors haven’t had their chances. They have led opponents, 2-1, twice and, 2-0, once.

Monday night at home, Northridge was ahead of Loyola of Chicago, 2-1, before losing, 13-15, 16-14, 16-18, 15-8, 15-9.

“It’s very hard to just sit there and watch them lose night after night,” said Northridge assistant coach Shelly Swalec, who played for the Matadors in the good old days. “I think it’s harder for me because I’ve been around and I know how good we were.”

Swalec played under Ker from 1989-92. As a senior, she helped the Matadors earn their first Division I tournament berth.

She never thought the day would come when the Northridge women’s volleyball team would do so terribly.

“How could I? We were always so good,” she said.