Northridge deals Warriors key loss

A strong start and an even better finish boosted Cal State Northridge to a 25-12, 21-25, 25-20, 25-21 victory over visiting Hawaii on Friday night in the Matadome.

The outcome struck a significant blow to the Warriors’ pursuit of a playoff berth.

The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation’s top eight teams qualify for the league’s postseason tournament. The Warriors needed a sweep of this two-match series to jump ahead of the Matadors, who entered the night in eighth place.

Instead, the Matadors improved to 5-10 in the MPSF and moved into a seventh-place tie with Long Beach State, which lost to Brigham Young in three sets on Friday. The Warriors, now 4-13, are tied for 10th with UC San Diego.

The Warriors have five regular-season matches remaining, beginning with tonight’s rematch.

The Matadors were without their best outside hitter, Matt Stark, who is suffering from a stress fracture in his left ankle.

But freshman opposite Julius Hoefer, who had been averaging 2.81 kills per set, filled the void with a match-high 27 kills.

Hoefer has drawn comparisons to former Warrior Jonas Umlauft. Both are 6 feet 9, graduates of the same German high school, and engineering majors. The difference is Hoefer was rocketing shots from the right side on Friday while Umlauft, who decided not to return for his junior season, was in Germany.

The Warriors are a developing team still trying to find an offensive rhythm. Taylor Averill and Harrison Carroll share the opposite’s position vacated by Umlauft. In the first set, the Warriors fell behind 5-1, then watched the deficit swell to 13-5 and 18-8. The Matadors built two 13-point leads.

Steven Hunt’s booming spikes led the Warriors in the second set.

The Matadors’ active block — sometimes middle Drew Staker shifted to become the pin blocker — proved to be too much of an obstacle for the Warriors in the third set.

The Warriors appeared to be on their way to forcing a fifth set when they took a 20-18 lead on Hunt’s slam. But Brandon LeBrock scored on a roll shot and Kapaa High graduate Danny Rodrick tied it with an ace.

Hunt’s kill off a rare middle attack put the Warriors ahead 21-20, but they would not score again.

A net violation tied it at 21, and the Matadors took the lead on Staker’s kill. Hoefer’s crossing shot and Staker’s kill off a quick set made it 24-21.

LeBrock then finished off the match with an ace.

LeBrock, a 6-1 outside hitter, soared for 15 kills.

Hunt led the Warriors with 11 kills, but he committed 10 errors and hit .030.