|
sports
49ers No. 1 seed
in NCAA Tournament
By Marten Lewerth
On-line Forty-Niner
Fresh off a perfect
regular season campaign, the top-ranked Long Beach State women's
volleyball team will open the first round of the NCAA Tournament
at home Friday at 7:30 p.m. against San Diego State (16-12).
The 49ers claimed the NCAA's No. 1 seed as expected Monday
and will host the first and second rounds of competition this
weekend at The Pyramid. Also competing will be UC Santa Barbara
(17-13) and the University of San Diego (21-8), who will face
off Friday at 5:30 p.m. The winners of the first-round matches
will hit the court Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
"We're No. 1," said 49er Head Coach Brian Gimmillaro.
"We earned this spot and now we'll see what happens."
The Beach sealed the tournament's top seeding by going 3-0
over the weekend to end the regular season on its home court
at the Long Beach State Thanksgiving Classic.
After downing both Weber State (30-16, 30-12, 30-16) and Pittsburgh
(30-26, 30-22, 30-20) Friday, the Big West Conference champions
capped a perfect year Saturday by beating No. 20-ranked Brigham
Young in four games to finish 28-0.
Tayyiba Haneef paced the floor with 24 kills and 10 digs against
the Cougars before a Pyramid crowd of 2,491. Two-time All-American
Cheryl Weaver finished with 22 kills on .531 hitting and six
blocks in the 30-22, 25-30, 30-24, 30-28 decision.
"They played us really tough," Weaver said. "Going
into the playoffs we're expecting to play tough, physical
teams, so it was good to play them."
The formidable Cougars (20-8), led by All-American Nina Puikkonen,
proved to be one of the 49ers' most dangerous opponents all
season, and the team's 30-25 victory in Game 2 snapped a 41-game
win streak for the 49ers, dating back to Oct. 19 at Cal Poly
San Luis Obispo.
"I hate losing, but I think losing that game was good
for us because we're not worried about it," said Beach
setter Keri Nishimoto, who finished with 53 assists, 15 digs
and three blocks against BYU. "Losing a game, I can look
around at my teammates, look them in the eye and know that
they're right there with me and know that we're not going
to crack and break down."
The Cougars won the second game after rallying back from brief
49ers leads to tie it at 23-23 before tallying a late six-point
run to clinch the win.
In Game 3, Weaver slammed over nine kills as BYU fought back
from 49er leads of as many as six points to tie the score
at 17-17. But the home team outgunned the Cougars late in
the game on a six-point run and junior Elisha Thomas' seventh
kill of the evening gave the 49ers a 30-24 win.
In the final game, Haneef exploded with 10 kills and Weaver
had six as the 49ers led most of the way before the Cougars
edged to a one-point deficit at 29-28. But BYU's Lauren Richards
ensured the Beach win as she returned the ball wide on the
next series, ending the match and regular season for both
teams.
Richards led the Cougars with 20 kills on .326 hitting and
BYU hit .189 as a team against the 49ers. Sunny Mahe had 12
kills and five blocks while Puikkonen tallied 11 kills and
six blocks.
Saturday was also Senior Night, and the team honored Haneef,
Weaver, Nishimoto and Ashanti Taylor in their final regular
season appearances with a ceremony prior to facing off against
BYU.
"It was definitely emotional," Haneef said. "It
kind of fired us up for the whole match."
The players were honored with standing ovations from those
in attendance at The Pyramid while surrounded by family members
and friends.
"It was weird," said Nishimoto, who was surprised
on the floor by her brother Ryan, who had flown in from Boston
to be at her side. "I've been here a long time and seen
all the seniors go through this, but it was just weird to
think it's my turn."
|
|
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Search our site
DEPARTMENT
OF
JOURNALISM
ONLINE 49ER
DEPARTMENTS
ADVERTISING
ADMINISTRATION
DAILY
49ER ALUMNI
SUBSCRIPTION
SERVICE
GIVE
FEEDBACK
|
