49ers set for opener

The goal of the Cal State Long Beach women's volleyball team is simple enough: play volleyball better than anyone else.

That is precisely what the 49ers did last year, steamrolling to a 32-2 record and the national championship.

This year, CSULB will be tested right from the start.

The 49ers will open defen se of its crown tonight at Loyola Marymount University in the opener of the Long Beach Invitational.

LMU was the only team that absolutely deserved to go to the NCAA tournament last year. But they were not invited, so they are looking at the CSULB match as their playoffs, said CSULB Coach Brian Gimmillaro.

"It will probably be the most hostile environment we'll play in this year," Gimmillaro said.

The true test will come Saturday night when the 49ers meet Ohio State. The Buckeyes have first-team All-American Laura Davis returning, and Gimmillaro said right now he considers them to be the second-best team in the country.

"It is going to be a very difficult weekend," Gimmillaro said. The 49ers also face the specter of having only two and a half weeks to prepare for this weekend.

"Any coach realizes two and half weeks is not enough to get ready to compete," Gimmillaro said.

It's going to be difficult for us this year," he continued. "I think during the learning process you sometimes go down before you go up. I think we're a little down right now. Maybe we'll surprise ourselves as to where we are at this point, but whether both teams play good or both play poorly it will be interesting to see where we are."