Northridge Knocks Off Stanford for Lone Victory

According to Cal State Northridge Coach John Price, there’s not a men’s volleyball team in the country that plays well in the morning.

The Matadors are no exception.

That’s why they lost to unranked Loyola Marymount, 15-3, 13-15, 15-13, in a 9 a.m. pool-play match Saturday at the UC Santa Barbara Collegiate Invitational. But in the afternoon, ninth-ranked Northridge defeated No. 4 Stanford, 15-13, 15-12 and advanced to play Pepperdine for third place in the 24-team tournament.

The 10th-ranked Waves won, 6-15, 15-11, 15-5, 15-11, but both teams looked physically drained at times.

After a 5-5 tie, Northridge broke away in the first game with a 10-1 run to seal the victory. Pepperdine trailed throughout most of the second game, but the Waves tied the score, 9-9, and didn’t trail again in that game.

“They just stopped making mistakes and we lost patience,” Price said. “We played hard till the end and that was nice to see.”

The Waves jumped to an 8-2 lead in the third game. With Pepperdine ahead, 13-5, middle blocker Chris Jacobsen served for two consecutive points to secure the victory.

Northridge appeared to be on a roll in the final game with a 9-2 lead, but Pepperdine roared back. Northridge fought off seven match points before Peter Kodacsy smacked a cross-court shot to win the game.

Matador outside hitter Collin Smith and Pepperdine outside hitter George Roumain were named to the all-tournament team.

The Matadors’ best performance came against Stanford. The Cardinal took a 5-0 lead in the first game, but Northridge tied it, 5-5, and after several lead exchanges, the Matadors went ahead, 11-7, before closing out the game.

Northridge trailed again in the second game until forging an 11-11 tie. The Matadors sealed the victory with a 4-1 run.

“They beat us with their passing and outside hitting,” Stanford Coach Ruben Nieves said. “Today we just weren’t as good as Northridge. They played well.”

Pepperdine defeated California, a club team, 15-8, 15-8, in pool play and then lost to fifth-ranked UCLA, 12-15, 15-9, 15-12 in the afternoon.

“They really got us with their jump serve,” said Pepperdine outside hitter Kevin Barnett, who last season was the Western State Conference player of the year at Pierce College. “There’s not that big of a difference in the talent each team has, they were just better today.”