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sports
Beach falls short
of goal
By Mike Haubrich
On-line Forty-Niner
Long Beach State's
mission was clear before the 2001 season started: Get to San
Diego, site of the NCAA Final Four for women's volleyball,
and take home the national championship.
The 49ers reached the destination, but fell one game short
of completing the ultimate goal after dropping a 31-29, 30-28,
30-25 decision to third-ranked Stanford in the NCAA Championship
match Dec. 15 at San Diego's Cox Arena.
The 49ers, who were ranked No.1 nationally for much of the
season following big early-season victories over Nebraska
and the aforementioned Cardinal, rode into the Final Four
with a 32-0 record and hopes of a fourth national championship
under Coach Brian Gimmillaro.
The Beach got things rolling right away, knocking off fourth-ranked
Arizona, 30-27, 30-25, 30-20, Dec. 13 in the national semifinals
and building a 29-27 lead over Stanford in the first game
of the title match.
The Cardinal proved resilient, however, coming back to score
the next four points -- fighting off two LBSU game points
in the process -- to claim the crucial first game.
For the 49ers, the Game 1 loss was new territory -- in its
previous 33 matches, LBSU hadn't dropped a first game while
sweeping 28 of its opponents.
"We were in a relatively easy position to score [on the
game points]," Gimmillaro said, "but the points
were two chances we missed."
Stanford built a 29-23 lead in Game 2 before The Beach, possibly
still stunned from what had transpired in Game 1, came back.
The 49ers fought off four Cardinal game points and rallied
to within a point at 29-28, but a service error on Stanford's
fifth game point proved to be LBSU's undoing.
"We had our best lineup [on the floor] to score,"
Gimmillaro said. "We found a weakness in their
attack, but we just missed a serve. Had we scored in those
opportunities [in Game 1 and 2], the match would have been
significantly different."
Stanford led most of Game 3 before a Logan Tom kill on match
point sent the 49ers home with their first loss of the season.
The victory gave Stanford its NCAA-best fifth championship.
Tayyiba Haneef led LBSU in the title match with 18 kills,
Brittany Hochevar added eight kills and seven digs, and Keri
Nishimoto had 34 assists. Cheryl Weaver, who finished the
season with 487 kills for The Beach, was held to seven kills
against the Cardinal.
"We're shocked to lose anytime," Gimmillaro said.
"It's difficult to take, but we had opportunities, we
just didn't take them ... it's very difficult to go undefeated."
Despite the loss in the title match, LBSU had one of the most
successful seasons in its history. Weaver, Haneef and Nishimoto
were named to the All-American team. Weaver's selection to
the team was her third in a row and she was also named Big
West Player of the Year for the second consecutive season.
Gimmillaro took home Big West Coach of the Year honors.
"It was one of the greatest seasons in NCAA history,"
Gimmillaro said. "Up until the finals, we had lost just
six games all year. As a team, we hit .359, our highest total
ever, and had three All-Americans. We're fortunate as a university
to have these young women choose us for their education and
extremely lucky to have the opportunity to work with them."
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Photos
by Cara Garcia
LBSU's Brittany Hochevar attempts a dig.
University
President Robert Maxson and Beach setter Keri Nishimoto's
disappointment is evident following the loss to the Cardinal.
Ashanti Taylor looks on as Cheryl Weaver does what she can
to stop the Stanford attack.
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