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sports
No. 1 49ers topple
UC Irvine
By Marten Lewerth
On-line Forty-Niner
His players were
frightened to death.
That's how UC Irvine Head Coach Charlie Brande described the
mood before his Anteaters were set to face the No.1-ranked
Long Beach State women's volleyball team at The Pyramid Saturday.
Considering that UCI's program has lost several key players
this season and carries a young roster of two juniors, one
sophomore and five freshmen this year, Coach Brande's statement
was understandable.
So too was the result, as the 49ers rolled out their 10th
sweep on the season with a 30-8, 30-19, 30-13 decision over
Big West Conference foe UCI before a crowd of 2,369.
"Because of experience, physical size and ball control,
this is one of the best Long Beach teams I've ever seen,"
Brande said afterwards.
When told of this comment, 49er Head Coach Brian Gimmillaro
agreed -- to a point.
"Well, it's one of the best," he said. "Where
it ends up we'll see."
If there was any real concern for the 49ers on this night,
it was whether or not the players would bring their best game
out onto the court.
"I think it's easy to not play the best you can -- not
as hard -- when playing a team that's not as physically strong
as you are," said LBSU's Cheryl Weaver. "But I think
tonight we were able to overcome that. We made it a point
to play at a high execution level."
And execute they did.
Weaver led the floor with 13 kills on a .524 attack percentage
and six blocks as the 49ers improved to 13-0 overall and 7-0
in conference play. Tayyiba Haneef had 12 kills on .733 hitting
and setter Keri Nishimoto dished out 34 assists and four kills.
The Big West's leading server, Brittany Hochevar, had five
aces (for a total of 47 on the season), seven kills and seven
digs for The Beach.
Hochevar expanded on Weaver's comments by pointing out that
the hardest challenges for the nation's best team came from
the friendly side of the net.
"Every opportunity that we get is going to help us take
another step," she said. "I think we have to come
out and prove ourselves every outing -- prove to ourselves
that we're national championship caliber."
On this night, The Beach hit for a percentage of .514 while
holding the Anteaters (2-13, 0-7 BWC) to a mark of -.086 in
a match that lasted exactly one hour. The 49ers also excelled
defensively, finishing with 11.0 team blocks as opposed to
UCI's 4.0.
In Game 1 the 49ers hit .647 with 11 kills and no errors
while allowing UCI only four kills on 25 attempts for a percentage
of -.200. The home team went on an early 12-point tear with
Lindsay Phillips serving and, later, Hochevar tallied four
of her aces on a five-point run that brought up game point.
Weaver then connected on her fourth kill of the evening and
the 49ers won the game, 30-8.
Although UCI took an early lead in the second game and finished
with 10 kills, Long Beach went 19 for 31 on the attack and
held the Anteaters to a mark of -.054 en route to a 30-19
win. Weaver tallied six kills and Haneef had five, including
the game-winner.
With a match victory in sight, the 49ers built a quick 10-3
lead in Game 3, powered by Haneef's five kills. Midway through
the frame, Gimmillaro gave freshmen April Varner, Erika Chidester
and Kelsey Young some court time, and The Beach closed the
match at 30-13 when Phillips slammed over her lone marker
of the contest.
Nicole Nelson and Kelly Wing each had five kills for UCI and
setter Ashlie Hain had 11 assists.
Next up for the first-ranked 49ers is a Big West contest at
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Friday. The Beach is 1-0 against
Cal Poly this season after a sweep on Sept. 22.
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Cara
Garcia/On-line Forty-Niner
Cheryl Weaver puts down one of her match-high
13 kills against UC Irvine Saturday at The Pyramid. The 49ers
swept the Anteaters to remain perfect on the season.
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