April 9, 2008

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - NORTHRIDGE VOLLEYBALL THIS WEEK:

MATCH #27: UC San Diego at #3 Northridge • Friday, April 11 • The Matadome • 7 p.m. MATCH #28: #4 Long Beach State at #3 Northridge, Saturday, April 12 The Matadome • 7 p.m.

NO. 3 MATADORS HOST UCSD PRIOR TO CLASH WITH LONG BEACH TO CLOSE REGULAR SEASON Third-ranked Cal State Northridge (21-5, 16-4 MPSF) wraps up the 2008 regular season this week as the Matadors host UC San Diego (10-17, 6-14 MPSF) on Friday before the potential championship clash with No. 4 Long Beach State (21-5, 16-4 MPSF) on Saturday. Both matches are scheduled for 7 p..m. in The Matadome. Northridge, a perfect 10-0 on the home court this season, had its school-record, 14-match win streak snapped at ninth-ranked UC Irvine on Apr. 1 but bounced back to sweep No. 7 UCLA in straight sets on Apr. 4 setting up this week's potential showdown. The Matadors need a pair of wins this week along with a BYU loss at home to USC to claim its first-ever outright MPSF Championship.

MATADORS HAS 14-MATCH WIN STREAK SNAPPED AT UCI, SWEEPS UCLA Four Cal State Northridge hitters posted double figure kill totals led by Eric Vance and Isaac Kneubuhl's 17 but the second-ranked Matadors had their school-record 14-match win streak snapped by ninth-ranked UC Irvine, 28-30, 30-24, 42-40, 30-18 at the Bren Center. Vance and Kneubuhl played their usual role leading the Northridge offense but neither hit particularly well as Kneubuhl hit just .173 and Vance was held to a .070 hitting clip. Kevin McKniff (15 kills, .393) and Mike Gaudino (11 kills, .192) picked up some of the offensive slack but the Matadors suffered with the absence of middle blocker Cody Loe. Northridge was dominated at the net by UCI as the Anteaters ranked up 21.0 team blocks to just 7.5 for the Matadors. On Saturday at UCLA, the trio of Kneubuhl, Loe and Vance combined for 29 of Cal State Northridge's 39 kills as the Matadors wrapped up the road portion of the 2008 regular season with a 30-25, 30-28, 30-24 victory at Pauley Pavilion. Kneubuhl led Northridge with 11 kills while hitting .375 to go with a team-high six digs. Vance added 10 kills but was limited to a .167 hitting clip while Loe, who sat out the last four matches, returned with eight kills in 12 swings without an error for a .667 hitting effort.

MATADORS SLIP TO THIRD IN AVCA POLL After splitting matches at UC Irvine and UCLA last week, the Matadors slipped to third this week in the CBS College Sports Network/AVCA Top 15 Poll. Northridge (21-5), which had been ranked second three of the past four weeks, received 206 points this week, a 21-point decrease from last week. Penn State (24-1) remained the top ranked team for the fourth straight week after earning all 16 first-place votes and 240 total points. BYU (21-4) slipped past Northridge into second this week with 212 points, while Long Beach State (21-5) is fourth and Pepperdine (12-9) rounds out this week's top five. UCLA (16-12), UC Irvine (14-13), Ball State (18-8), Ohio State (15-7) and USC (13-13) complete this week's top 10. After three weeks at number two in the Molten/Volleyball poll, the Matadors dropped two spots to fourth in this week's poll with 82 points.

POSTSEASON SCENARIOS With two wins and a BYU loss this week, the Matadors would earn the top seed in the MPSF and host the postseason tournament at The Matadome. Currently in a three-way tie for first with BYU and Long Beach State, the Matadors and Cougars both play twice at home while the 49ers travel to UCSB and Northridge. Long Beach State currently holds the tiebreaker over BYU and the Cougars hold the tiebreaker over the Matadors. Should BYU drop either match to No. 10 USC, the regular season title could come down to the Northridge-Long Beach State match on Saturday at The Matadome. Northridge is already guaranteed of hosting at least a tournament quarterfinal match. If the season ended today, the Matadors would host sixth-seeded Stanford.

MATADORS IN THE NCAA STATS Several Northridge players appear in this week's NCAA statistics report. Junior Eric Vance ranks third in aces (.533), seventh in points (5.41) and is 11th in kills (4.53). Also figuring into the national stats, senior Travis Bluemling is fourth in assists (12.97 per game), freshman Cody Loe (.436) and sophomore Kevin McKniff (.405) rank eighth and 14th respectively in hitting percentage, senior Isaac Kneubuhl is 17th in aces (.377) and sophomore Ali'i Keohohou is 12th in digs (2.49 per game). As a team, the Matadors remain the third-best hitting team in the country at .319.

MATADORS HONOR BLUEMLING, KNEUBUHL ON SENIOR NIGHT Saturday's highly anticipated match with Long Beach State will also mark the last regular season home appearance for Matador seniors Travis Bluemling and Isaac Kneubuhl. Bluemling will close his career as one of the top setters in Northridge history. He comes into this week's matches in fourth-place in career assists with 3,668. With two matches to go plus the postseason, Bluemling is closing in on a his season-high in assists (1,488 in 2006) with 1,219 so far this year. Bluemling needs 332 assists to become just the fourth setter in Matador history with 4,000 career assists. Kneubuhl, also a four-year letterwinner, is closing in 1,000 career kills in his Northridge career. He comes into this week's action with 986 career kills in 121 career matches. Kneubuhl also has 609 career digs which ranks eighth on the Cal State Northridge career list. With his next service ace, he will enter the career top 10 in that category as well.

NORTHRIDGE NOTES With 10 kills against UCLA on Saturday, Eric Vance reached double figures in kills for the 50th time in 85 career matches. The junior has double figure kill totals in 22 of 26 matches so far this season ... In 31 years, the Matadors have never completed a season undefeated at home. The 1991 Northridge team (13-1) came within one loss of going undefeated while the 1981 team lost just once in eight home matches. Northridge is a perfect 10-0 on the home floor with two matches to go ... The 3-1 setback at UC Irvine on Apr. 1 was the first time this season that the Matadors have lost a match after winning game one. Northridge is now 18-1 in such matches. The Matadors remain a perfect 20-0 in matches that they lead their opponents in hitting percentage.

NORTHRIDGE ON THE NET Both matches this week will be broadcast live with Cory Bluemling, the voice of Matador men's volleyball, calling all the action. Click the newly-launched GoMatadors.com for more information. The Gametracker feature will also be available for both matches this week.

SCOUTING UC SAN DIEGO The Tritons (10-17, 6-14 MPSF) wrap up their 2008 season with road matches at Northridge on Friday and No. 14 UC Santa Barbara on Saturday. With 10 wins this season, UCSD already has its winningest season in its history. Among their six MPSF wins this season were sweeps over both UC Irvine and Pacific. Sophomore OH Jason Spangler leads the UCSD attack averaging 4.59 kpg while sophomore OPP Frank Fritsch adds 3.52 kpg. Freshman setter Phil Bannan averages 10.63 assists per game for the Tritons who are hitting .237 as a team. Head coach Kevin Ring is in his third season at UC San Diego and sports a 17-67 career and school record. The Matadors hold a commanding 56-6 lead in the all-time series and are 25-2 all-time against the Tritons in Northridge.

SCOUTING NO. 4 LONG BEACH STATE The fourth-ranked 49ers (21-5, 16-4 MPSF) travel to No. 14 UCSB on Friday before the showdown in Northridge on Saturday. Long Beach snapped its two-match skid with a pair of road wins at Pacific and No. 8 Stanford last week. The 49ers have now won nine of the last 12 matches dating back to the Feb. 29 loss to the Matadors at the Walter Pyramid. Senior OH Paul Lotman leads Long Beach in kills (531) and averages a team-high 5.53 kpg. Soph. OPP Dean Bittner averages 4.77 kpg while the 49ers are hitting .321 as a team. Head coach Alan Knipe is in his eighth season at Long Beach State and sports a 153-87 career and school record. The Matadors have won the last six matches between the two teams including a five-set win at the Walter Pyramid on Feb. 29.

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