JUNIOR’S ACHIEVMENT

Junior Mosones is not your typical college sophomore.

He actually makes his bed, his kitchen is cleaner than a four-star restaurant and he readily admits to doing laundry earlier in the day.

While most students have food stains on their carpet, the only thing stained at Mosones’ place is the sleek hardwood floor.

But his neatness and politeness--Mosones almost immediately asks visitors if they want something to drink--disappear as soon as he steps onto a volleyball court.

A fiery tangle of arms and legs, Mosones, an opposite hitter for Cal State Northridge, throws himself around with little regard for his body.

He will swan dive for the slimmest chance at a dig and is not afraid of defense at the net, smacking the ball hard into a block instead of around it. At 6 feete 2, Mosones has little option for anything else.

“It’s not like I can hit over the block any time,” he said. “I just have to swing hard.”

That he does. Mosones, a former setter at Channel Islands High who walked on at Northridge last year, is second on the Matadors with 4.4 kills per game, and has lifted some of the offensive burden from two-time All-American Chad Strickland.

Mosones ranks among team leaders in blocks, digs and assists, but he is still likely to lose sleep from the negatives in his still-maturing game.

Despite a career-high 30 kills against Pacific last week, he tossed and turned that night because of another career-high--10 service errors.

“Terrible game,” he said. “I just never got in rhythm. It haunted me when I went to sleep.”

Mosones, who has a team-high 44 service errors, also needs to improve his .215 hitting percentage--a product of a team-leading 80 hitting errors.

Northridge Coach Jeff Campbell isn’t overly concerned.

“You don’t look up to a guy tipping or hitting roll shots,” said Campbell, a subscriber to the let ‘er rip theory.

“[Mosones] is swinging away, and you look up to a guy who’s putting the ball down.”

College coaches essentially ignored Mosones two years ago, when he was a senior at Channel Islands. His height was a sore point, as was the low profile of the Raiders’ program. Channel Islands never finished better than third place in the Marmonte League.

Mosones was selected most valuable player in the league as a senior, but the recruiting calls never came. With the help of his older sister, Mary Anne, he sent letters to several top college programs--UCLA, Stanford, Hawaii, USC, Penn State, Long Beach State and Ohio State. But he never heard back.

“I think he was cheated out of some things,” Mary Anne said. “It’s ridiculous that he didn’t get recruited out of school and wasn’t getting recognition. A lot of players on his club team had lesser ability and still got recruited and got scholarships.”

Everybody else’s loss was Northridge’s gain, though the Matadors weren’t sure what to do with Mosones when he showed up unannounced at an open practice.

His quickness and jumping ability earned him a spot on the team and he started the first three matches at setter.

After struggling, he was demoted to backup setter and later moved to backup opposite hitter.

His big break came courtesy of former Northridge coach John Price.

“You want to play middle?” Price asked out of the blue.

Before Mosones could answer that he was about five or six inches too short to be a middle blocker, he was thrust into the starting lineup against top-ranked Stanford.

Mosones didn’t embarrass himself and he started seven matches in the middle with mixed success before moving back to opposite. For good measure, he started the season finale against UC Santa Barbara as an outside hitter.

One freshman, one season, four positions.

“It was pretty crazy,” Mosones said.

He has found himself at opposite hitter this season and has become somewhat of a crowd favorite, thanks to his play and his name. (He was born Anastacio Cagas Mosones Jr., but went by Junior because teachers and friends found it easier to pronounce.)

“I don’t have to worry about being at another position later on,” Mosones said. “I feel more comfortable now and more at home.”

For Mosones, that’s a neat place to be.