BAXTER SETTLES IN AS NORTHRIDGE'S SETTER; ROYAL HIGH GRADUATE EARNS STARTING SPOT EVEN THOUGH HE'S A FRESHMAN.Byline: Heather Gripp Daily News Staff Writer John Baxter thought he was on top of the volleyball world in high school, where he was part of a Royal High team that won Marmonte League The Marmonte League is a high school sports league primarily made up of schools from Ventura County. The Marmonte Leauge is part of the CIF Southern Section. Click here to view the league schedule. championships three years in a row and was Southern Section runner-up his senior year. But nothing has made Baxter happier than Cal State Northridge's decision to keep its men's volleyball team. While others transferred during the Matadors' uncertain times, Baxter remained loyal to CSUN CSUN California State University Northridge . ``I was going to go here no matter what,'' said Baxter, whose father played for CSUN during the '70s, ``basically because it's the best place for me. I still had faith the program would be back, and it is. It's pretty relieving, too. There was no doubt I wanted to play in college. I wanted to play so bad.'' Baxter's wish came true, and now the only freshman on the Matadors' roster is having the time of his life as the starting setter setter: see sporting dog. setter Any of three breeds derived from a medieval hunting dog that would set (lie down) when it found birds so that it and the birds could be covered with a net. Setters have long hair on the ears, chest, legs, and tail. . ``It's a lot of fun,'' he said. ``It's all that I thought it would be. The talent's so much higher. The excitement, the intensity, it's nonstop HP's brand name for its fault-tolerant servers, which range in size from four CPUs to 4,000 CPUs. The NonStop line was created by Tandem Computers, which was acquired by Compaq, which later became part of HP. . I couldn't ask for anything more. ``I've always wanted to play at this level. I look around and see I've jumped a level, but I'm climbing with it.'' Indeed he is. ``He's doing great,'' coach Jeff Campbell Jeff Campbell (Born August 25, 1979) is a New Zealand soccer player who has represented his country at U20, U23 and senior levels. The attacking midfielder made his debut for the All Whites against Jamaica in January 2000 and collected 13 caps (5 goals). said. ``He's really pulled away as our front-runner (at the position). He knows the game and he has a lot of experience. ``He has some really nice attributes. His intensity and desire to win are very high.'' Winning is something Baxter grew used to during his days at Royal, where his teams advanced to at least the Southern Section quarterfinals during each of his seasons. Baxter was a driving force behind those teams, which shows in the numerous honors he picked up, including first-team All-Marmonte League selections all three years, All-Southern Section honors his junior and senior seasons, as well as the Marmonte League and area player of the year awards Several sports leagues honor their best player with an award called Player of the Year. In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. The awards with the "player of the year" phrasing include these. in 1997. Coming to a team that lacks the dominance of his former Highlanders has been an adjustment for Baxter, but not a discouraging one. ``It was a bit hard,'' he said. ``We probably only lost like four matches the whole time I was at Royal, so it's different.'' The young Matadors, however, have pulled off some surprises, including a come-from-behind five-game victory over USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. last month. CSUN held a 2-3 (0-3 in conference) record going into Friday night's Mountain Pacific Sports Federation The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation is a college athletic conference whose member teams are located in the western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I. contest against Hawaii. ``It's helping us learn,'' Baxter said. ``By losing, we learn from our mistakes. All great teams lose at one time or another.'' Fitting into the lineup immediately as freshman hasn't been a problem. ``There really wasn't any (adjustment),'' said Baxter, whose season-high 60 assists came against top-ranked BYU BYU Brigham Young University BYU Bayou BYU Bob's Your Uncle BYU Bayreuth, Germany - Bindlacher Berg (Airport Code) BYU Beyond Your Understanding in the preseason Santa Barbara Santa Barbara (săn'tə bär`brə, –bərə), city (1990 pop. 85,571), seat of Santa Barbara co., S Calif., on the Pacific Ocean; inc. 1850. tournament. ``My teammates are great. They make my job a lot easier. I have the easiest job on the court. All I have to do is toss the ball real high and hope they hit it.'' So, with everything going right again, it appears Baxter is on top of the world again. ``School's going good. Volleyball's going good. I couldn't ask for more,'' he said. ``It's a whole other life.'' CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO Although Cal State Northridge isn't winning as often has his Royal High teams did, John Baxter said he's never had more fun playing. David Sprague/Daily News |
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