Northridge Falls to UCLA for 3rd WIVA Loss in Row

The slide continued Tuesday night for the fourth-ranked Cal State Northridge volleyball team in a 15-13, 10-15, 13-15, 6-15 loss to fifth-ranked UCLA before 2,001 at Northridge.

It was Northridge’s third consecutive defeat, and the loss leaves the Matadors with slim hopes of catching Pepperdine for the DeGroot Division championship in the Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Assn.

Northridge (15-9) dropped to 9-5 in the WIVA and into a second-place tie with the Bruins (11-6, 9-5) in the DeGroot with two matches remaining. Pepperdine leads the division with a 10-4 mark.

“The division (title) is out of the question unless we get lucky,” Northridge Coach John Price said. “So now we’re going to concentrate on the WIVA tournament. We’re capable of playing with the best teams in the country, we’re just not doing it.”

The Matadors were doing it earlier this month when they reeled off seven consecutive wins, but a grueling schedule (seven matches in 14 days) has taken its toll.

So have injuries. Craig Hewitt and Ken Lynch missed recent matches because of sprained ankles and returned to the lineup at partial strength, and All-American Coley Kyman reinjured his left ankle in the fourth game against the Bruins.

Moreover, Hewitt played sparingly because of the flu.

“We need to get over our injuries and get some practice time,” Price said. “We’ve only been able to have three practices the last two weeks. We need to get back our rhythm.

“We’ve been so out of sync. Our passes were a little off tonight and our serving was way off.”

Indeed, Northridge made 21 service errors compared to the Bruins’ 15.

UCLA dominated with a .350 hitting percentage to Northridge’s .260, and the Bruins owned the net with 33 blocks to the Matadors’ 24.

Bruin middle blocker Jeff Nygaard, the NCAA’s leading blocker, recorded a match-high 13 blocks and 25 kills to help UCLA avenge an earlier loss to the Matadors.

Axel Hager led Northridge with 26 kills and 10 digs and Kyman had 22 kills, 10 digs and seven blocks.

“The problem is that every team is getting better and better and we are stuck at our highest level from two weeks ago,” Hager said. “We realize it and we know we have to work hard, stick together and we’ll be fine.”