Pacific haunts Beach with sweep at Pyramid

By Lyndsey Shinoda
Daily Forty-Niner

On Halloween weekend, the orange and black Pacific Tigers came into The Pyramid and spooked the 49ers in three games, 15-10, 15-13 and 15-9.

University of the Pacific (18-3 overall, 10-1 Big West Conference) came out roaring from the beginning. Despite a Pyramid crowd of 2,494, the Tigers used strong defense to rattle off point after point, forcing the 49ers (15-7, 6-5) to play catch up.

In Game 2, it looked like LBSU would pull off a victory, as the 49ers controlled the tempo and led by as many as five points. But the Tigers climbed back, eventually stealing the game.

"I'm proud of my team," said UOP Head Coach John Dunning. "We were really tough in game two. We came back and grabbed it, that's what you have to do on the road."

The 49ers struggled in the third game and Pacific cruised in for the win. The last time LBSU was swept at home was in 1996, also by UOP.

Pacific hit .199 for the match, while LBSU hit .130. The Tigers had four players with double-figure kills, making for a balanced attack.

Jennifer Joines led the Tigers with 12 kills and a .346 hitting percentage.

49er Tayyiba Haneef's 17 kills and .342 hitting percentage were not enough to notch a win.

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

The No. 12-ranked Tigers showed why they are in sole possession of first place in the conference.

"It's really big for us, because this is one of the hardest places in the country to get a win," Dunning said. "I feel bad for them because they have a lot of great players, it's just unfortunate that they've had so many injuries. They're still going to do damage."

The 49ers currently stand in fourth place in the Big West.

In Wednesday's game against Cal State Fullerton (7-16, 2-9), the injury-laden 49ers came out on top by scores of 15-9, 15-5 and 15-11.

The match saw the return of outside hitter Sarah Connor, who had missed the seven previous games due to a sprained knee.

Connor started and played in all three games, tallying nine kills on the night.

"It feels good to get back, and soon Iëll be back to 100 percent," Connor said. "We had times that we were magnificent and times that we made small mistakes. But it's nothing we can't fix."

Gimmillaro said he was still concerned with the team's injuries, which seem to be increasing by the day.

"Sarah got clearance today, but she's still hurting," Gimmillaro said. "It's very discouraging now. We rested Ashanti (Taylor) because of her quad and played Sarah. Mariah's really sore too. It's just not getting better. Cheryl's (Weaver) also sore."

Despite the many injuries, the 49ers hit .244 for the game and had three players with double-figure kills: Haneef, Cheryl Weaver and Elisha Thomas.

"We are tired, but we should've pushed through," Thomas said. "We regained some speed in the second game and got tired in the third."

"We had a strong effort but we played like we were injured," Gimmillaro said. "There's just too much to overcome right now."

The 49ers will not get much time to recover, as the team heads to the road for two conference matches, Thursday at Boise State and Saturday at Utah State.