Matadors Ride Streak to National Ranking

A school record 15-game winning streak has vaulted Cal State Northridge into the collegiate baseball rankings for the first time this season.

The Matadors (27-17) are ranked No. 29 after defeating Hawaii-Hilo four times last week. They haven’t lost since March 8, a streak that includes a victory over 18th-ranked Cal State Fullerton and two victories over UCLA.

Pepperdine (24-15), which leads the West Coast Conference with a record of 13-3, is ranked No. 30 despite sweeping Northridge in a three-game series.

Northridge plays at Long Beach State tonight at 7.

VOLLEYBALL

In the mix: Northridge, which wasn’t even certain it would play men’s volleyball this year, is playing a part in the playoff race in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

If the Matadors (10-13, 6-12 in MPSF play) win their regular-season finale tonight at UC Santa Barbara, and USC loses at Long Beach State, there would be a three-way tie for the eighth and final spot in the MPSF tournament that starts Saturday.

The bad news: Northridge would lose the three-team tiebreaker--percentage of games won within conference matches--against both USC (11-14, 7-11) and Santa Barbara (9-12, 7-11).

Still, not bad for a program temporarily eliminated last summer for budget and gender-equity reasons.

“Pretty unbelievable,” Coach Jeff Campbell said. “We were hoping to survive this year. What’s happened is we’ve played hard and gotten better. We’re kind of rolling right now.”

A victory by the Matadors would eliminate Santa Barbara and put USC in the tournament.