Phillips out for rest of season

By Marten Lewerth
Daily Forty-Niner

The 49ers lost an integral piece of the puzzle Monday when outside hitter Lindsay Phillips suffered a season-ending knee injury.

"To lose her is devastating," said Head Coach Brian Gimmillaro. "Lindsay's one of the top three or four outside hitters in the country."

The injury happened Monday in the second game of a match against American University in Washington D.C. Phillips jumped to spike a set from teammate Brittany Hochevar, and lost her footing as she hit the floor.

"She got the kill and I turned back to give her a high five and she's down, saying that ëit popped,'" Hochevar said. "She landed on her left leg and the kneecap blew forward -- my stomach turned right away."

Although Phillips was meeting with doctors and not available for comment Wednesday, Gimmillaro said she is definitely out for the season and that the injury was an ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament).

Phillips, born in Huntington Beach, redshirted last season after transferring from Pepperdine University. The 6-foot-0 sophomore played impressively in the first two matches of the season, especially the home opener against Saint Mary's, where she led the 49ers with 20 kills and nine digs on the evening.

"Lindsay's injury is something that you have to suffer from," Gimmillaro said. "Now we're going to have to piece it together and make some moves. The problem is, we can't do that until some people get healthy."

With Phillips' injury, the 49ers have four players out of the lineup. Junior Tayyiba Haneef, senior Mariah Marquis and junior Ashanti Taylor are all questionable for tonight's match against Temple. Of the three, only Haneef is expected to return before the team hits the road for matches against Oral Roberts and Brigham Young in Utah this weekend. .

"We're going to have to be kind of ingenious tonight, tomorrow night and Saturday night," Gimmillaro said. "We're going to have to do some creative things."