CHATTER: MATADORS' VOLLEYBALL MAKES BIG WAVES AGAINST NO. 1 HAWAII.Byline: Ross Siler Staff Writer It was pouring rain Friday morning when Cal State Northridge men's volleyball 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). woke up at his Waikiki Beach hotel in Honolulu. Never, though, had Hawaii looked so beautiful to either Campbell or his players. Late Thursday night, Northridge upset No. 1 Hawaii, the defending NCAA NCAA abbr. National Collegiate Athletic Association champion, in four games - the biggest victory in Campbell's six-year tenure - in one of college volleyball's toughest places to play. The 24-30, 30-26, 30-24, 30-21 victory also was the Matadors' second in a row when playing the country's top-ranked team. Last week, Northridge knocked off then-No. 1 UC Irvine in five games at home. And two days before that, the team toppled UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX at Pauley Pavilion Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion, informally and commonly known as Pauley Pavilion, is an indoor arena located on the campus of UCLA in Los Angeles, California. It is home to the UCLA Bruins men's and women's basketball teams. The men's and women's volleyball teams also play here. . ``It's been building for two weeks now,'' said Campbell, whose team won at Hawaii for the first time since 1997. ``The guys believe they can beat anybody in the country right now. It's just incredible.'' CSUN CSUN California State University Northridge (9-4 overall, 4-4 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. ) had little time to celebrate, however, with a second match against Hawaii played Friday night. The Warriors drew nearly 4,500 fans to the Stan Sheriff Center Stan Sheriff Center is a 10,300-seat multi-purpose arena in Honolulu. The arena opened in 1994 as the Special Events Arena. It is home to the following teams at the University of Hawaiʻi:
Even with the milestone victory, though, Campbell said his team's celebration afterward was rather muted. ``That's the really interesting thing,'' the coach said. ``The guys didn't really go jumping around on the court or anything. They just shook hands almost like they expected it.'' Northridge got a team-high 19 kills from senior middle blocker Joe Nargi (Taft High of Woodland Hills) in the victory. The game ball went to junior setter Ty Tramblie from Newport Beach, who finished with 56 assists and seven digs on defense. With the victory, Northridge probably will ascend from its current No. 8 spot in the national rankings when the new USA Today/AVCA coaches poll is released Tuesday. Campbell said he thought the Matadors could move into the top five, especially if they beat Hawaii again Friday. Thursday's victory was especially sweet for Campbell. The coach took over at Northridge in August 1997, after the men's volleyball program briefly was killed in a cost-cutting and gender-equity move. Now Northridge will try to advance to the four-team NCAA tournament for the second time in school history. ... The Stoneridge Prep of Tarzana boys' basketball team is officially out of the postseason after deciding against appealing the Southern Section's decision to ban the Wildcats from the playoffs over the use of ineligible players. The Wildcats must forfeit at least 19 games they played with the ineligible players, all of whom were transfers who did not have the proper paperwork according to a Southern Section investigation. Stoneridge Prep was ranked No. 2 in Division V-A V-A abbr. ventriculoatrial . ... The San Fernando High baseball team will have its annual alumni game next Saturday at the school. A home-run hitting contest is scheduled at 11 a.m., with the game to begin at 1 p.m. The school has contacted Tigers alum and former major leaguer Gary Matthews about participating. ... College of the Canyons College of the Canyons is one of the fastest-growing community colleges in the state. According to the National Junior College Research Association, College of the Canyons consistently ranks in the top 50 community colleges in the nation. freshman guard Krystal Clay (Grant High of Van Nuys) was selected as one of the Western State Conference's players of the week. Clay scored 34 points in the Cougars' victories over Glendale and West Los Angeles
Canyons (23-5, 8-2) will play at Bakersfield at 7:30 tonight. The Cougars are ranked No. 6 in Southern California and 11th in the state in the latest CCCWBCA coaches poll. ... Rosters have yet to be finalized for the 52nd annual Shrine All-Star Classic football game. But receiver Steve Smith of Taft of Woodland Hills, running back Dennis Keyes of Birmingham of Lake Balboa and kicker Will Simons of Hart of Newhall are among the locals who have committed to the July 19 event at Mt. San Antonio College Mt. San Antonio College (commonly called Mt. SAC; pronounced as the word "sack") is a community college located in the Los Angeles suburb of Walnut, California, next to California State Polytechnic University, Pomona which is just over a hill. Mt. in Walnut. Staff writer Gerry Gittelson contributed to this report. |
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