March 2, 2003
STANFORD, Calif. - Sixth-ranked Cal State Northridge (12-6 overall, 8-5 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) posted a 24-30, 30-25, 30-17, 30-27 win over ninth-ranked Stanford (9-9, 7-7) on Saturday night at Maples Pavilion.
Senior William Strickland (Malibu, CA) led the Cardinal with a double-double of 18 kills and 11 digs, while senior William Curtis (Whittier, CA) pitched in 17 kills. Redshirt sophomore setter Kevin Hansen (Newport Beach, CA) was credited with 46 assists. The Cardinal was playing its eighth consecutive match without injured All-American Curt Toppel (Pacific Palisades, CA).
Joe Nargi led the winners with 23 kills and eight digs. The Matadors out-blocked the hosts 11.5-4.5, and out-hit the Cardinal .398 (67 k-14 e-133 ta)-.250 (64-26-152).
Stanford, which defeated 14th-ranked UC Santa Barbara in four games on Friday night, turned in a dominating performance in game one. The Cardinal hit .481 (16-3-27) in the opening game, and put the Matadors away with a stretch of four consecutive points that gave it a 24-17 lead.
Cal State Northridge turned the tables in game two by breaking an 18-18 tie with four consecutive points. The Cardinal could get no closer than three points the rest of the game.
The Matadors continued the momentum in game three by jumping out to leads of 10-4 and 17-9 en route to the easy win.
In game four, the Matadors led just 27-26 before recording back-to-back points to stretch the lead to three. After Stanford cut it to 29-27, the visitors closed out the match on a kill by Stan Douglas.
The Cardinal continues MPSF play on Tuesday night when it hosts 10th-ranked Pacific at Burnham Pavilion at 7:00 p.m.