CSUN Wins 4th Straight CCAA Title in Volleyball

That wasn’t a showdown for the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. women’s volleyball championship that took place Tuesday night at Cal State Northridge.

It was aggravated assault.

In front of about 1,500 mostly amused onlookers, the No. 2-ranked Lady Matadors needed less than 90 minutes to complete a 15-10, 15-11, 15-9 rout of No. 1-ranked UC Riverside.

“We just worked them over,” said CSUN Coach Walt Ker.

In so doing, the Lady Matadors wrapped up a 12-0 conference season that gave them their fourth straight CCAA championship. Their record during the reign is 47-1, which includes a winning streak that has reached 27 matches.

The victory also means that CSUN (33-5) probably will move back into the No. 1 spot in the Division II rankings entering the NCAA playoffs, which begin with regional tournaments Dec. 5-6 and wind up with the Final Four Dec. 12-13 at Cal State Sacramento.

CSUN and Riverside (24-7, 10-2) have flip-flopped in the rankings all season, with Riverside taking over the No. 1 position after beating CSUN in the finals of the Premier Tournament Nov. 9 in Colorado Springs, Colo.

But Riverside, which hasn’t beaten CSUN in a conference match since 1982, went quietly this time in the face of a ferocious, all-out effort by CSUN.

“It wasn’t revenge because the match up there didn’t mean anything,” said CSUN captain Karen Lontka. “This is what mattered because co-championships are really ugly.”

If Riverside had won, the teams would have played off for the conference title Friday night.

But CSUN never gave the Highlanders a chance.

Riverside had its moments, opening an 11-6 lead in the second game, but CSUN then scored nine straight points to close it out.

In the third game, Riverside fought off match point four times before a spike off the block by outside hitter Anna Garcia gave CSUN the victory.

“It was the best possible expectation I could have had for the match,” Ker said. “We beat them in three and we played excellently.”

Ker said the Lady Matadors shored up the weaknesses that were exposed in the loss to Riverside last week--particularly their passing and blocking.

“Our blocking was beyond my wildest dreams,” he said.

CSUN’s hitting percentage of .183, which included 11 kills by Sue Darcey and nine each by Garcia, Lontka and Franci Bowman, wasn’t anything to brag about, but Riverside’s .060 was embarrassing.

Ker and Riverside Coach Sue Gozansky expect to meet again, either in the regionals or, if one of the teams is sent out of the region, in the Final Four.

“If this was going to happen,” Gozansky said of the rout, “I’d just as soon have it happen now.”