HIGH SCHOOL BOYS’ BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : UC Santa Barbara Uses Tiptop Tactics to Down Northridge

NORTHRIDGE — In terms of excitement, the volleyball tip ranks right up there with the opening tip in a basketball game.

It is a bunt compared to a grand slam. A changeup instead of a 95-mile-per-hour fastball.

But in volleyball it can win a match. Such was the case Friday night as UC Santa Barbara defeated Cal State Northridge in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match in the Northridge gym.

The line score will show the fifth game was the decisive one in a 15-13, 12-15, 15-4, 9-15, 15-8 Gaucho victory. That is misleading.

The match was won when Santa Barbara managed to hold off a Northridge rally to take the first game.

The Matadors entered the match unbeaten in six games over two matches at home this season, but the Gauchos succeeded in nibbling them to a slow death.

“We didn’t play very smart,” Northridge Coach John Price said. “They tipped it what seemed like 1,000 times. And it cost us big points.”

The strategy also caused the Matadors to bring up a back-row defender to protect against the tip play, leaving Northridge more vulnerable to typical bash-ball volleyball tactics.

Donny Harris hammered home 33 kills in a pleasing homecoming of sorts. Harris, a 6-foot-7 redshirt freshman, said he was recruited light and late by Northridge two years ago out of La Canada High.

“That was OK, though,” he said after running his team-high season kill total to 176. “I was set on (going to) Santa Barbara anyway.”

Score a recruiting coup for the Gauchos, who snapped a pair of Northridge winning streaks.

The Matadors had won their previous three matches and brought a five-match winning streak over Santa Barbara to Friday’s match. The win improved the Gauchos to 7-6, 4-3 in conference matches. Northridge fell to 6-4, 2-2 in the MPSF.

“What you saw here were two very similar teams both struggling,” Price said. “The difference was we were a little uglier in the games they won, and they were a little uglier in the games we won.”

Price shuffled in fresh players at a brisk pace, but none of the combinations seemed to click. Oliver Heitmann was the only Northridge player steady on the attack. The 6-7 German import accounted for 24 kills and an attacking percentage of .450.

Freshman Collin Smith added 21 kills, but hit only .250, and the rest of the Matador attack was dismal. Jon Baer and Jason Hughes, who alternated at opposite hitter, had attacking percentages of .115 and .172, respectively.

Craig Hewitt, usually a force in the middle, had only 11 kills and hit at a .103 clip.

“Hewitt had an off night and both opposites had a bad night,” Price said. “That we had any chance to win this match is an indication of how bad the match really was.”