UCSB snaps 49ers' home win streak

By Lyndsey Shinoda
Daily Forty-Niner

In a record-breaking match that could have gone to either side, the No.19 Long Beach State women's volleyball team dropped a heartbreaker to No. 12 UC Santa Barbara in five games Saturday night, 15-11, 7 15, 15-7, 12-15 and 15-12.

The defeat broke a 16-match home win streak for LBSU.

The 49ers (14-6 overall, 5-4 Big West) and Gauchos (15-5, 7-2) battled back and forth in the first game, trading sideouts and valuable points. 2,465 fans, the 15th-largest crowd ever at The Pyramid, watched UCSB steal game one from LBSU.

Game 2 belonged to the 49ers. The two teams traded eight sideouts before a point was scored, but with 12.5 blocks in that game compared to the Gauchos' one block, the 49ers used defense to win.

Overall, LBSU hit .157, while UCSB hit .140.

The Gauchos must have had a good locker room speech at the break, because they came out with a vengeance in the third game, while the 49ers struggled to play catch up. In Game 4, the 49ers started off slowly and it looked like the Gauchos would finish them off, but The Beach came out on top.

Game 5 was faster paced because of the rally scoring system, where it is not necessary to be serving to make points.

Despite having 25.5 team blocks in the match compared to UCSB's 7 blocks, LBSU still came up short in the end.

"Who says you need trees to play volleyball?" said UCSB Head Coach Kathy Gregory. "I've got little girls who are tigers. We're not the biggest or the tallest but we always find a way to win. That was unbelievable."

LBSU Head Coach Brian Gimmillaro refused to comment after the loss.

Cheryl Weaver led the way for LBSU with a season-high 27 kills and 14 digs. Tayyiba Haneef also chipped in with 17 kills on the night, while Elisha Thomas had a solid game with 15 kills and a career-best 13 blocks. Mariah Marquis had a career-best 23 digs, and setter Brittany Hochevar put up career numbers as well, tallying 65 assists, 12 digs and nine blocks.

Gaucho Danielle Bauer tallied a match-high 32 kills and a .385 hitting percentage. Erica Menzel had 19 kills and Simone Kuhn tallied 16.

The match's time of 2:50 was the second longest in LBSU history.

In Thursday's match against the Mustangs of Cal Poly, the 49ers won in three games, 15-12, 15-8 and 15 12. The victory avenged a five-game loss that occurred the last time the two teams met (Sept. 23).

"We played pretty well at times and Cal Poly played well at times," Gimmillaro said. "We were a little inconsistent and made some mistakes, but Cheryl looked pretty good and aggressive. Elisha was pretty aggressive too."

Weaver led all players with 23 kills and a hitting percentage of .514. Ashanti Taylor, who was playing with a strained hip flexor, added 11 kills.

"I was trying not to think about it, because I can't be the weak spot," Taylor said of her injury. "There was a lot of fight in us. We did it in three and that's what we wanted to do."

Also for the 49ers, senior Melissa Ohta led all players on the court with 16 digs.

Mustang Melanie Hathaway led the Cal Poly (11-6, 5-3) attack with 19 kills. As a team, the Mustangs hit .212 while the 49ers hit .300. Gimmillaro said that when you have two good teams, the hitting percentages are rarely high.

"We just wanted to go after them because they beat us up there," Weaver said. "We wanted to play with our hearts. Even if it wasn't pretty, we just tried to get it done."

Hopefully the 49ers will be able to bounce back from the UCSB game Wednesday, when the team takes on Cal State Fullerton in The Pyramid at 7:30 p.m.

Cristian Vera Aleman/Daily Forty-Niner

Outside hitter Mariah Marquis tallied a career-best 23 digs Saturday against UCSB.

Cristian Vera Aleman/Daily Forty-Niner

LBSU gunner Cheryl Weaver notched 27 kills against UCSB Saturday and 23 against Cal Poly Thursday for a total offensive output of 50 kills in the past two matches.