WIVA TOURNAMENT : CSUN Notches 1st Division I Playoff Win

Following Neil Coffman around the volleyball court at UC Irvine’s Bren Center on Wednesday was a relatively easy task.

Just listen for the voices of the Pepperdine Waves.

Every step Coffman took was duly noted by Pepperdine’s front-row players. He was a marked man.

But for all the effort Pepperdine made to chart Coffman’s course, the Waves never managed to stop him.

Coffman, a 6-foot-3 senior, hit over, through and around a seemingly endless wave of Pepperdine blockers for a match-high 37 kills as Northridge won, 15-3, 11-15, 16-14, 15-12, in the quarterfinals of the Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Assn. tournament.

It was Northridge’s first NCAA Division I postseason victory in men’s volleyball.

“Another first in a year of firsts,” John Price, CSUN’s coach said.

Another came March 16 when Northridge notched its first win over UCLA in 20 tries. The Matadors will try to make it two in a row over the Bruins today at 5 p.m. in a semifinal match.

“Loser goes home,” said Coffman, who helped send the Waves packing. “Everyone is going to be giving it all they have.”

Coffman and Co. packed a punch against Pepperdine, particularly in the first game, which took less than 20 minutes.

“We didn’t make a single mistake in the first game,” said Coffman, who had 10 digs and five block assists in addition to his kills. “Then reality hit. A real volleyball game showed up.”

In particular, Dijon Douphner showed up.

Douphner, the stepson of Pepperdine Coach Marv Dunphy, led the Waves with 27 kills. His specialty was hitting the ball off, rather than between, the hands of Northridge blockers.

“A lot of that was poor execution on our part,” Price said. “But give him credit. He made it work.”

Douphner could not, however, keep pace with Coffman, who had more support.

When the Waves bore down on Coffman and Coley Kyman, the Matadors’ top hitters, setter Matt Unger simply looked elsewhere. In several situations he found Ken Lynch one-on-one with a Pepperdine blocker.

Unger liked the odds.

“Thank goodness for Kenny. He was the guy with one up on him and when I got it to him he put it down,” he said.

Lynch, a 6-5 sophomore from Crespi High, finished with 18 kills and hit at a .406 clip. Kyman, who was battling the flu, finished with 19 kills and added seven blocks on defense.

Coffman’s kill total was within two of his season high, but even when not hitting his mere presence helped the Northridge attack.

“We anticipated them doubling up on Neil,” Price said. “We encouraged it. We swung him around a lot more than we usually do.

“They were so preoccupied with him and Coley that it opened up the floor for some other people.”

That was especially evident in the first game when Northridge made good on 16 of 22 hitting attempts.

“You can’t put too much into that game, no matter which side you’re on,” Price said. “We’ve been on the other end of a few of those too.”

Pepperdine (13-9) clearly understood. The Waves bounced back from an early deficit to win the second game, then extended the Matadors (22-6) to overtime in the third game.

Northridge trailed, 14-12, in the third game and faced game point before scoring the final four points, including the winner when Kyman hit off Duane Cameron’s block attempt.

The Matadors also trailed in the final game before outscoring Pepperdine, 9-2, down the stretch for their third victory without a loss against the Waves this season.

USC WINS TITLE: C10