Kenny Daniels, right, looks to give CSUN a couple of wins in the NIT consolation round in Western Kentucky. Daniels scored 27 points in Northridge’s first victory of the season against Texas State. Photo Credit: Jonathan Pobre / sundial file photo

The Cal State Northridge men’s basketball team (1-2) continues their play in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Preseason NIT Monday night against Western Kentucky University (WKU) at E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Ky. WKU was chosen as one of three sites to host the consolation round of the NIT.

In their last outing the Matadors picked up their first victory of the season against Texas State. The Matadors were behind for most of the second half due to turnovers and lack of rebounds, but Kenny Daniels’ career-high 27 points gave CSUN the comeback to prevail at the end.

The rally could give CSUN confidence going into Western Kentucky, since they fell behind early against Purdue and TCU— their first two games of the season—and were unable to manage a comeback.

Northridge has struggled defensively to start the season, giving up 84.7 points per game and being outrebounded 43.7-35.7. The Matadors have also let their opponents shoot 42.9 percent from the field.

On offense, Northridge was able to get it together against Texas State, scoring 85 points, but the prior two games CSUN was unable to break into the 70s.

The Matadors haven’t gotten good play from the their starting point guard Mark Hill, who is averaging a low 3.3 points and 0.7 assists.

Daniels is developing into CSUN’s go-to guy offensively, averaging 17 points per game.

Northridge has a big challenge against Western Kentucky, the back-to-back Sun Belt Conference champions. The Hilltoppers have won three NCAA Tournament games in the last two seasons and lost in the Sweet 16 against UCLA in 2008.

The Toppers are led by senior guard A.J. Slaughter, who was picked Preseason Player of the Year by the Sun Belt. Slaughter scored 30 points to start the season against Wisconsin-Milwaukee and is averaging 20.5 points in the young season.

In the paint the Matadors will need to worry about junior forward Sergio Kerusch, who was named to the 2009 All-Sun Belt Preseason Second Team. In two games Kerusch is averaging 7.5 rebounds and 19 points. Tuesday in a loss to LSU, Kerusch led the Hilltoppers with 25 points.

After the WKU game, Northridge will play Coastal Carolina on Tuesday, rounding out their NIT play and then returning home to play Cal State Bakersfield on Nov. 30.

The Matadors got swept by Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara to end the 2009 regular season. Photo Credit: Sami Eshaghi / Assistant Photo Editor

The Northridge women’s volleyball team finished its 2009 season by dropping two three-set matches at Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara this past weekend, bringing the Matadors’ final record to 8-22 overall and 4-12 in the Big West.

Northridge finishes seventh in the conference just one game behind Cal Poly and ahead of UC Riverside.

The Matadors were unable to produce enough offense to have a fighting chance in either match.

“(This) weekend was really rough for us, especially losing 3-0 in both matches,” junior Lynda Morales said. “Dealing with the ailments of Brittany (Williams) and adapting to the changes of the lineup … hindered us a little.”

The 25-18, 25-17, 25-21 victory brings Cal Poly’s record to 9-20 overall and 5-11 in the Big West.

Cal Poly controlled most of set one with CSUN not developing into a real threat, only tying the score once and changing the lead once the entire set.

The Mustangs’ lead grew to 14-6 before Northridge capitalized on two Mustang hitting errors and two Matador kills to run off their most consecutive points of the set.

Northridge would only come as close as three with the score at 20-17 before being outscored 5-1, and the Mustangs would run away with the set, 25-18.

With minimal hitting and service errors, the second set started off much closer, with the Matadors keeping the score within one, even taking their lone lead at 8-7, before tying it at 11.

But six hitting errors and a service error in the latter part of the set would give the Mustangs the match handily at 25-17.

Set three started off like the second, with both teams taking turns to side out to tie the score five times up until nine. With the score at 22-18, for the Mustangs, a Britney Graff kill spurred a last-ditch effort to push the set bringing the score within one at 22-21.

Moments later a Graff hitting error would give Cal Poly match point and a kill by Dominique Olowolafe closed the match.

Olowolafe led Cal Poly with 12 kills hitting a .647 clip and was accompanied by Jennifer Keddy with eight kills.

Graff led Northridge with seven kills, and Morales, Angela Hupp and Janet Alvarado each had five kills to add to Hupp’s 19 assists and single ace.

Saturday night saw much of the same from Northridge, as Santa Barbara won with scores of 25-15, 25-21, 25-18.

UCSB jumped to a quick 10-5 lead, eventually widening to 18-9 in set one. The Gauchos would lead twice by 11 points at 22-11 and 24-13.

CSUN would rally two more points off of two Gaucho hitting errors. But with set point on the line, a Hupp attack error handed the set to UCSB.

“Our passing at Santa Barbara started off really weak, but it started to progress,” Morales said.

Northridge was able to find ways to keep set two close, tying the score multiple times up until 21. But a combination of two Rebecca Saraceno kills, a Gaucho ace and a Northridge hitting error would close the match.

In the final set, the Matadors were able to stay within three, but UCSB would begin to pull away at 19-15, leading by as much as six. With the score at 22-16, CSUN would rally only two more points but back-to-back Saraceno kills would hand Northridge its final loss of the season.

“I think a lot of it has to do with our energy,” said Morales. “If we aren’t playing together we start to fall apart … this weekend if we had played together we would have pulled off the win.”

Saraceno finished with 10 kills and eight digs with Lily Lopez adding seven kills.

The Matadors hit .064 as a team. Graff led with 11 kills and Morales had six kills.

In her finale as a Matador, Hupp had 22 assists, five digs and four total blocks, and fellow senior Tela Burnett had five kills and five total blocks.

Freshman Janelle Nomura scored 15 points against the Spartans Friday night. Photo Credit: Sami Eshaghi / Assistant Photo Editor

The Cal State Northridge women’s basketball team (1-2) captured its first victory Friday night on the road, but it did not come easy. They were able to come away with a narrow one-point victory against San Jose State, 62-61.

The Matadors have struggled in their first two games of games the season because they unravel at key times during the game.

However, this time the Matadors learned from their past mistakes and did not hang their heads when something went wrong.

CSUN was tied with San Jose State at the half, 29-29. The Matador women started the second half on a bad note by falling behind on the scoreboard.

The Matadors did not get down on themselves because of turnovers but instead decided to go after the victory. They did not make the comeback by shooting well from the field because they only shot 38 percent for the game.

Nor did the Matadors make their return by shooting three-pointers. The team shot 41 percent from downtown.

Also, they had only shot a decent 76 percent from the free throw line. So, how did the Matadors make a comeback after an 11-2 run midway through the second period? They did it by tough individual play and second-chance opportunities.

Jasmine Erving, who played like a true center, had 21 points and a game-high eight rebounds.

Freshman Janelle Nomura had a complete all-around game. She had 15 points, one 3-pointer, three offensive rebounds, two assists and three steals.

Both Erving and Nomura were contributing factors to the key run in the second half.

The rest of the Matadors helped with getting key put-backs. The team finished with 12 second-chance points.

Furthermore, the Matadors built a 53-45 point lead with their run. However, the game was far from over.

San Jose State made one last run. Players like Chasity Shavers and Britney Bradley both had huge games against the Matadors. Shavers finished with 11 points, and Bradley finished with 10 points.

They helped close the gap to one point in the final minutes of the game. The score was 62-61, and with 7.4 seconds left, guard Katrina Thompson was fouled. She missed the one-and-one at the free throw line.

San Jose State grabbed the rebound, and Shavers’ half-court buzzer beater was no good.

“It was a good win”, says head coach Staci Schulz. “It was good to get the ball rolling, and we have the potential to be a good team. However, we are better than a one-point win.”

“It was kind of tense out there. Missing from the free throw line made it scary,” Nomura said.

Most coaches want the game to be close in the fourth quarter on the road, and that is exactly what happened in this game.

The Matadors continue their two-game road trip at the University of San Diego Tuesday night. Tip is planned for 7 p.m.

Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne (87) hauls a toughdown pass against the New England Patriots late in the first half at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts, Monday, November 7, 2005. Photo Credit: MATT DETRICH/INDIANAPOLIS STAR

What was being billed as the ‘rivalry of the decade’ by NBC between the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts was played Sunday night at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

The billing did not disappoint viewers as a shootout ensued and eventually saw one of the greatest comebacks in NFL history, with the Colts shocking the Patriots 35-34.

It is fair to call this the ‘rivalry of the decade,’ given that four of the last eight championships have been won by these two teams, along with four of the eight MVP awards going to either Peyton Manning or Tom Brady.

These are the only two teams this decade to have at least a .700 winning percentage, and it seems that every year their regular season meeting was a precursor to the eventual playoff meeting.

This year was no exception. The Colts came into the game 8-0, having won 17 straight regular season games going back to last year.

The Patriots were 6-2 and had outscored their previous three opponents 121-24. A win for New England would have put them one game back of the Colts and create the possibility of home field advantage in the playoffs.

After some initial feeling out by both offenses, Indianapolis went down the field and scored, making it 7-0.

The Patriots answered right away and tied the score. For the next two and a half quarters, New England thoroughly outplayed the Colts in just about every facet of the game.

They moved the ball at will on offense, and the defense made Indy punt four times in the first 22 minutes of the game.

With a 24-14 lead in the second half, New England had a few chances to put the game away. Tom Brady threw an interception in the end zone early in the third quarter, and later starting tailback Laurence Maroney fumbled inside the opposing one-yard line.

However, the Patriots defense continued to keep Peyton Manning and the Colts offense in check and held a 31-14 lead with just over 14 minutes left.

Suddenly, everything seemed different. It appeared that the Pats secondary went into prevent defense, which is supposed to allow the underneath passes, as long as the team does not score quickly.

Yet, it has been proven over and over that the prevent defense does only one thing: prevent you from winning.

Manning took advantage of the prevent defense and found his rhythm.

The Colts scored twice with a couple of drives that took a combined four minutes, without using any timeouts. The Colts cut the deficit to 34-28.

New England had the ball first and 10 at their own 20, with just over two minutes remaining. After three plays, the Patriots found themselves facing a fourth and two at the 28.

The typical way to play this would be to punt the ball away and force Manning to go about 70 yards for the winning score. However, he had just shown that he could do that twice.

Therefore, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick decided to put faith in his offense to pick up the two yards, effectively ending the game.

Halfback Kevin Faulk ran a two-yard curl and turned to catch the pass. He appeared to bobble the ball around for a split-second before reeling it in.

The officials spotted the ball a half-yard short of the first down and New England was out of timeou

Senior Angela Hupp (10) will be playing in her final two games as a Matador this weekend when they face Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara. Photo Credit: Alan Fassonaki / Staff Photographer

It may be too late for the Northridge women’s volleyball team to make a run for the Big West regular season title, but winning the last two road matches would be a meaningful way to end the season.

The Matadors currently stand 8-20 overall and 4-10 in the Big West. The four wins beats their 3-13 conference finish in the 2008 season.

CSUN will play Cal Poly first, which currently holds a similar record, 8-20 overall and 4-11 in conference. The Mustangs are second to last in conference just ahead of UC Riverside.

“Going to Cal Poly and Santa Barbara are two tough matches,” CSUN head coach Jeff Stork said.

In early October, Cal Poly defeated Northridge in five sets during their first meeting.

The Matadors are coming off a split weekend beating Long Beach in five sets and then dropping three straight to Fullerton.

Mustang middle blocker Dominique Olowolafe currently stands in third place in the Big West ranking hitting percentage with a .336 clip and freshmen outside hitter Megan McConnell’s 294 kills ranks her 10th in attacks.

These two offensive weapons are joined by freshmen setter Anuhea Keanini, ranking ninth in assists with 904, and junior libero Alison Mort who has tallied 469 digs this season, placing her third in the Big West.

Despite the success in these four categories, Cal Poly has no representation on either the serving aces or blocks lists. Not to discredit current ace and blocks team leaders, but this may work to CSUN’s advantage.

With the repositioning of senior outside hitter Angela Hupp to setter and one of the strongest hitters, Brittany Williams, injured, Northridge has been struggling lately to produce much offense.

“I miss her so much (on the court),” junior middle blocker Lynda Morales said of the absent Williams. “But she’s very supportive off the court.”

And with their last match against UC Santa Barbara, one of four teams in the Big West with 10 wins, the Matadors will need all the support they can get.

“Cal Poly is a young team,” Stork said. “Santa Barbara is playing for a little more, they have more motivation. We’re trying to scramble through and keep up the players’ focus and determination.”

Depending on the perspective, the Gauchos are currently tied for second, or third, in the Big West with UC Davis.

“We’ve done pretty well against Santa Barbara in the last couple years,” Stork has said. “They do certain things real well. (Their) first contact is very good.”

Leading the Gauchos and the Big West in kills is senior outside hitter Rebecca Saraceno with 449, 4.54 per set. Saraceno also ranks seventh in aces with 28, behind fellow Gaucho Leah Sully, a freshman outside hitter, who’s claimed the top spot with 44 aces.

Northridge only has three players ranked in the Big West individually. Sophomore Sam Orlandini is last in assists with 737, and freshman Monica McFarland’s 397 digs places her ninth. Senior Tela Burnett still leads with 122 total blocks.

For Burnett and Hupp, this will be the last weekend they put on a jersey with Northridge on the back.

San Jose State may be 0-2, but it is still a road game nonetheless. Everyone knows that road games are little bit harder than home games. The crowd is against the opposing team, and every mental error is magnified.

“You really have to stay focused,” Matador Analee Viena-Lota said.

So Northridge will have to focus on a couple of details to grab a victory. First, they have to focus on defensive. The women’s team has kept up with teams offensively but has really struggled to stop teams from scoring.

San Jose State may look like an easier defensive task, but they have players that could give the Matadors fits.

Chasity Shavers a senior guard out of Lewisville Texas, has led the Spartans in scoring for the last two games. She is a bench player but is still very dangerous. They are going to have to slow her down, or it may be a long evening.

However, head coach Staci Schulz feels they have the answer for Shavers.

“She is athletic, but I think we will have answers for her,” Schulz said.

Shavers isn’t the only Spartan who can give CSUN fits. Sayja Sumler averaged 7.1 points and 3.9 rebounds last year. She has not lived up those stats this year, but Sumler is always capable of a big game.

Also, the Matadors need to focus on not losing the ball. In their last game they had 22 turnovers, which cost them the game. If they don’t cut those turnovers down on the road, they will lose for sure.

So, the Matadors are heading into a hostile environment. They are no longer in the friendly confines of their home. They will need big plays out of their stars Bridgette Conejo, Jasmine Erving and Katrina Thompson. Also, their bench will have to be sharp and play tough defense to beat the Spartans.

You can listen to all the action on GoMatadors.com. Tip is planned for Friday at 7:00 p.m.

The Matadors were able to complete one of their season goals by making the Big West Tournament but came up short in making the NCAA Tournament. Photo Credit: Courtesy of CSUN Athletic Media Relations

The Cal State Northridge men’s soccer team was shut out seven times this season. But Monday the Matadors were dealt their most crushing defeat, this time by the NCAA, as they were left out of the College Cup Tournament.

With a record of 10-8-2, Northridge knew its tournament hopes hung by a thread. It finished fourth in the Big West Conference at 5-4-1 and had significant victories under its belt to go along with an impressive non-conference schedule.

The Matadors defeated No. 10 Santa Barbara at home and split the season series with No. 17 UC Irvine, the Big West Tournament champ. Their noteworthy victories outside of conference play came early in the season – with a home-opener win against Loyola Marymount and road wins against Tulsa and Southern Methodist.

Despite having a top 50 RPI, the selection committee did not look favorably on CSUN’s losses against No. 19 San Diego, New Mexico, Coastal Carolina, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Cal State Fullerton.

Last season the NCAA took the top four Big West teams, but this year, only two were selected. After crushing UCSB 4-1, Saturday, in the conference tournament title game, Irvine was awarded a first-round bye. The Anteaters won the regular-season and conference tournament title last season and will face the winner of the Stanford-St. Mary’s match.

Although they spent much of the year in the top 10 nationally and won the regular-season title, the Gauchos were not awarded a bye, and will face Wofford (S.C.).

Had the Matadors defeated the Gauchos in their first-round match, perhaps the committee would have awarded an at-large berth. Instead, CSUN coach Terry Davila and his squad are left to wonder what if, as they have now missed the big tournament for the fourth straight year.

Northridge peaked early in the season, shooting up to No. 24 in the nation and fourth in Far-West rankings after winning five straight games. But the team hit a turning point in the Big West Challenge, losing to Coastal Carolina and playing Denver to a 0-0 tie. From there, the Matadors won two out of eight matches, and at one point were near the bottom of the Big West standings.

CSUN did finish strong, though, winning its last three matches to clinch the final spot in the Big West Tournament.

Davila’s program will take a significant hit in graduation this year, with 10 seniors leaving, which will create a number of open positions to be filled.

Kenny Daniels, shown here in the match against The Masters College on Nov. 7, scored a career-high 27 points against Texas State, in Tuesday’s night 85-82 victory in Tempe, Ariz. Photo Credit: Jesus Esquivel / Contributing Photographer

The Cal State Northridge men’s basketball team (1-2) was outrebounded by the Bobcats 46-25, missed 16 free throws and recorded 23 turnovers. Northridge was heading towards an 0-3 record to start the season.

Until Rashaun McLemore three-pointer started a 7-0 run for the Matadors that tied the game at 78-78 in the waning minutes of the game.

Tuesday night in the consolation game of the NIT season tip-off’s West bracket, CSUN got their first victory of the year, beating Texas State 85-82. Kenny Daniels led the Matadors in points setting a new career high with 27.

Daniels was crucial for Northridge down the stretch, knocking down a three-pointer, then getting a bucket to give CSUN their first lead of the second half at 80-79. Soon after Daniels got a steal and got the breakaway jam to give the Matadors the three-point lead.

The Matadors got a couple of free throws by seniors Mark Hill and Willie Galick to ice the game.

To begin the game, head coach Bobby Braswell played around with his starting lineup, hoping it would give his team a better start than the first two games of the year. He removed point guard Mark Hill, who has been struggling on the offensive side, and replaced him with junior transfer Dathan Lyles. Also Raymond Cody and Michael Lizarraga got their first start of the young season. Daniels and Galick remained as starters.

At first it seemed Braswell’s new starting unit was paying off as the Matadors got off to a hot start. Northridge built their first double digit lead of the season after going up 20-10 but soon after the Bobcats went on a 9-0 run.

Eventually Texas State would surpass Northridge and went into the half with a 51-46 lead.

In the second period the Matadors never let Texas State get a huge lead and they just kept chipping away.

The Bobcats kept Northridge in the ball game by giving up 30 turnovers and missing 13 free throws.

Hill was only able to score one point and record two assists. If Hill doesn’t turn it around soon, other guards like Vinnie McGee, who scored ten points against the Bobcats, could bump him off the starting unit.

Cody shined in his first ever start in a Matador uniform, scoring 12 points. Galick had a respectable 13 points and grabbed six rebounds.

Northridge improved their three-point shooting by knocking 9 from long range.

All the momentum went out the window in the first few minutes of play in the Matadors’ first-round matchup of the NIT.

Northridge was routed 83-65 by Texas Christian University (TCU) Monday night at Wells Fargo Arena (home of Arizona State athletics). The story of the game was the Matadors’ inability to play defense and to create offensively.

Edvinas Ruzgas had a career-high tie in points and three-pointers against the Matadors. He had 24 points and five of TCU’s 12 three-pointers. Ronnie Moss had seventeen points and five assists for the Horned Frogs.

The high scorer for the Matadors was Kenny Daniels with 14 points, and leading the team in rebounds was Lenny Daniel with eight. Daniel was also CSUN’s only other player to score in double digits with 11.

Northridge was a man short with Rashaun McLemore out after suffering a concussion in the game against Purdue.

For the second consecutive game the Matadors dug themselves a double-digit deficit early in the first half. Northridge was able to get their first lead of the year when they went up 3-2 on Kenny Daniels’ three-point play. After that, the Horned Frogs went on a 7-0 run and never relinquished the lead after that. TCU was able to set the tone early by knocking down shots from long range and getting to the paint easily.

Willie Galick was in foul trouble early, just like he did against Purdue, getting two fouls in the first three minutes of the game. Braswell took him out for the rest of the half, and that led to CSUN giving up plenty of offensive rebounds to TCU.

The Matadors didn’t look like a team throughout the ball game. They didn’t work together on the defensive side, and that made them give up easy lay ups. They weren’t able to set up plays offensively. The main reason for that was that point guard Mark Hill didn’t record a single assist for the second consecutive game. As a team, CSUN was only able to get nine assists, compared to TCU’s 19.

The Matadors were horrendous from three-point range, only knocking three out of 17 attempts. That wasn’t a surprise since CSUN has been struggling form downtown.

Northridge did turn things around offensively in the second half, being able to outscore the Horned Frogs 40-35.

Northridge has now played poorly in two non-conference games, but head coach Bobby Braswell always tells his players to peak when Big West play starts.

“It’s not where you are two days from now … It’s where you are in a month from now,” Galick said about what Braswell tells him and his teammates. “It’s where you are when conference starts.”

For Staci Schulz, head coach of the Northridge women’s basketball team, the love for the game and competition drove her to seek out a career that incorporated both.

Schulz, originally from Parkston, S.D., grew up in a town of about 1,500 people. Her graduating class of seniors was made up of 39 other students. To say the least, Schulz comes from a small town.

But it was in this small town that she learned how to play basketball. Schulz played various positions throughout her career at Parkston High School; something she feels benefited her greatly.

“I played a number of positions, which is probably the foundation of me becoming a coach,” Schulz said. “I even played point guard. Not a super quick point guard, but I could get the ball out.”

Then during her junior year at Mount Mary’s College in South Dakota, amidst a time when Schulz contemplated the course of her future, that she discovered coaching basketball was something she wanted to do seriously.

“One time there was a misunderstanding between me and my (college) coach,” Schulz said. “It was an intense conversation … it made our relationship stronger. It made me want to coach. There was a point where I wanted to quit school, but basketball kept me in.”

In the fall of 2002, an opening on the Northridge women’s basketball coaching staff became available, and Schulz, who was at the time an assistant coach at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, applied for the position and got the job.

Working under former CSUN head coach Tammy Holder, Schulz learned the ins and outs of the Northridge program. Then in 2005 Schulz was named the women’s basketball program’s 11th head coach.

“The transition to head coach was rather smooth,” Schulz said. “The change from the UNLV staff to this staff was easy…definitely a challenge, but I knew everyone around me and I knew how to do everything.”

Prior to coming to Northridge she held assistant coaching positions at her alma mater, Mount Mary’s College, Western Illinois and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Schulz’s career at CSUN has seen the ups and major downs of the women’s basketball team. And over the past couple seasons Schulz and the team have had to fight through the graduation of talented, dominant seniors while competition grew.

“During some of our unsuccessful seasons, keeping the players motivated to compete,” Schulz cited as of the most difficult things she’s had to deal with at CSUN. “During those times, you lose some of your fans.”

Schulz constantly encourages her players to keep competing, especially when times are rough, even if she has to bring out her not so serious side.

“She has goofy moments,” said Katrina “Train” Thompson, a senior who has played four years for Schulz. “Sometimes we’re like ‘Did she really just say that?’ They’re not the funniest jokes but they help when we’re having our dead moments.”

The word “compete” is one that Schulz keeps close to her heart, so much so that it is the first thing the players see when they walk into the locker room.

“(Being) in the heat of the moment,” Schulz said about her favorite thing about basketball. “Just competing. It’s kinda like being at war, it’s kinda fun.”

For Schulz drawing up plays at the last minute and having them work, along with getting a player to understand different parts of the game are what she loves most about coaching.

Coaching for the Northridge women’s basketball team is something Schulz definitely sees in her future.

“I love it here (CSUN)…I love the team we recruited, I want to see them through,” she said. “Leaving happens, but I don’t think about it too much…try to live in the moment.”