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	Vol.7, No 45, November 16, 1999
	The Beach loses grip of first By Elyse Medlin Daily Forty-Niner The third-largest crowd ever at The Pyramid turned out to watch the Long Beach State women's volleyball team lose to the University of Pacific in four games Saturday. Pacific claimed the Western Division title in the Big West Conference by wining the match.   WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL In just four games (4-15, 15-13, 11-15, 10-15) LBSU yielded the final Big West Conference match of the season in front of 4,318 people. The home court loss also marked the end of the 49ers' home win-streak of 57 matches, the third longest in NCAA history. Ironically, Pacific was the last team to beat LBSU at home on November 9, 1996. Also at stake in Saturday's match was the chance to host the Big West Champion in the Eastern Division next Saturday. If  LBSU would have won against Pacific it would have given them the chance to win this game and receive an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. "Long Beach has been so good for so long," said Pacific Head Coach John Dunning. "It's really hard to beat them on their own court." Despite the loss, LBSU Head Coach Brian Gimmillaro said the match's highlight was the fans. "We wanted to win for that crowd," Gimmillaro said. "They were sensational, it was genuine support." Sophomores Cheryl Weaver and Tayyiba Haneef were the power hitters in a losing effort for the 49ers, pummeling a career-high 29 and 27 kills, respectively. Pacific "couldn't do anything to stop Cheryl and Tayyiba," Gimmillaro said. "They dominated the match." The Tigers led game once by as many as nine points before closing early at 4-15. Pacific hit an impressive .523 percent, with only one error for the entire game. The tables turned in Game 2 as LBSU forced Pacific to play from behind. The 49ers led all of the second game after an initial 1-1 tie. The Tigers snatched Game 3 quickly from the 49ers, 15-11. However the 49ers maintained a strong hold on the Tigers in Game 4, jumping out to an early 7-2 lead. "I thought we were going to win the fourth game," Gimmillaro said. "I was actually looking to the fifth game." The 49ers were unable to recover after four and five-point runs by the Tigers and relinquished the final four points to them to lose the match (10-15). LBSU picked up a win in Reno last Thursday in a conference battle against the No. 1 team in the Eastern Division, the University of Nevada.		Fire damages home near CSULB   2 rookies take L.B. race   Campus concert makes no money Cheap shots belittle news   Special events close parking   Thefts too much for cops The Beach loses grip of first   LBSU can't overcome USC   49ers lose in double overtime Fall 99 ISSUES DAILY 49ER HOMEPAGE
Forty-Niner Publications, Department of Journalism, California State University, Long Beach ©1999 All rights reserved.