49ers' home win streak reaches eight

By Lyndsey Shinoda
Daily Forty-Niner

 Revenge is so sweet.

The last time the Long Beach State women's volleyball team met with American University it triumphed, but the team lost outside hitter Lindsay Phillips to a season-ending knee injury.

Monday night at The Pyramid there were no injuries, and the 49ers gave the Eagles a solid pounding in three games, 15-8, 15-2 and 15-4.

"We knew this was an important game and rose above," said team captain Cheryl Weaver. "If not for anything else, we had to beat them because Lindsay got hurt."

Game 1 started off lethargically as the two teams battled for each point. Tied at 7-7, the 49ers (12-4 overall, 3-3 Big West) scored five straight points and never looked back.

"We didn't start off very well," said Head Coach Brian Gimmillaro. "Hesitation is the worst thing in this sport. After the first game, we didn't hesitate any more. We were in a great rhythm."

Weaver led the LBSU attack with 12 kills. Middle blocker Tayyiba Haneef tallied 11 kills and had a match-high .846 hitting percentage. The team as a whole had a season-best percentage of .512.

"This was our fourth game in six days," Haneef said. "So we were slow at first, but in the second and third games, we played Long Beach style and dominated."

American (16-3) was held to a percentage of .110. Former LBSU player Sylvia Panak (1996-98), recorded 23 assists in the match.

Women's volleyball

After the contest, Gimmillaro talked about Weaver's improvement.

"If we were healthy from the beginning of the year, Cheryl would be incredible," he said. "Now she's coming into her own."

Weaver seems more confident with each game, and has the numbers to go along with that.

"I just tried to go out there and do my job, play my role," Weaver said. "Everything's kind of clicking. I've been able to concentrate on my game."

With its home win streak at eight in a row, the 49ers head to the road this weekend. Thursday night they take on Idaho in a Big West Conference match, and Saturday night is a much-anticipated match-up with volleyball powerhouse Stanford University, both matches beginning at 7 p.m.

"We've had some time in the gym. We're getting better now," Gimmillaro said. "We've had the same lineup four matches in a row. But Stanford has a similar home winning percentage as us. That's a big time team."