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sports:
women's volleyball
Pyramid rocks
as 49ers post huge victory
By Marten Lewerth
Daily Forty-Niner
The Long Beach
State women's volleyball team capped a perfect weekend with
a 30-26, 28-30, 31-29, 30-25 nonconference victory over No.
1 Nebraska before a roaring crowd of 4,940 Saturday night
at The Pyramid.
The Beach's Tayyiba
Haneef registered 21 kills in the victory, including one on
match point that sealed the contest.
"We worked
so hard for each other," Haneef said, "and when
that last ball went down, we knew no one else could take the
No. 1 spot away from us."
The 49ers' win over the Huskers (2-1) snapped the defending
NCAA champions' win streak at 36 -- the fifth best streak
of all-time.
"I think this
is as good as it gets," said LBSU President Robert Maxson
shortly after Haneef's match-winner. "It had the air
of a championship game. Not only was it great volleyball,
but also one of the most enthusiastic crowds I've ever seen
at a LBSU athletic contest."
The announced attendance
of 4,940 -- mostly Beach fans wearing yellow T-shirts donated
by a booster -- was the third-highest in program history.
Nebraska's two-time
All American Nancy Metcalf paced the Huskers with a match-high
25 kills and a .477 attack percentage, while Beach gunners
Cheryl Weaver and Haneef posted 21 kills each. LBSU senior
outside hitter Ashanti Taylor added a career-high 12 kills.
Beach setter Keri
Nishimoto finished the contest with 62 assists and junior
outside hitter Brittany Hochevar led both teams with four
aces. Hochevar and junior defensive specialist Tracy Bulquerin
totaled 13 digs each for LBSU.
The 49ers hit for
a team attack percentage of .315 while the Huskers hit for
.245.
"The Pyramid
is a tough place to win," said Nebraska's Head Coach
John Cook, the AVCA's 2000 Coach of the Year. "There
was just a lot of little plays where we broke down tonight,
and when we didn't win Game 3, it was a turning point."
LBSU Head Coach
Brian Gimmillaro also said the third game was pivotal.
"Cheryl Weaver
simply decided in the middle of the third game that we weren't
going to lose," he said.
The 49ers prevailed
in a back-and-forth Game 1 when junior middle blocker Elisha
Thomas hit a bullet down the right sidelines to secure a 30-26
win.
The Huskers rallied
to take Game 2, 30-28, when Haneef was called for a net violation
by referees on game-point, spoiling a comeback that saw the
49ers rally from a 23-14 deficit to draw to within one at
29-28.
"We kind of
got tense," Haneef said of the second game. "We
lost focus, and you have to refocus again.
"And by that
time it was too late."
The 49ers took
the third frame and 2-1 match lead after Nebraska's Anna Schrad
hit a serve long to break a 29-29 deadlock and Weaver came
up with a game-winning block to clinch it.
Play grew increasingly
tight in the fourth game before The Beach upped the pressure
late.
Weaver tallied
three kills and Haneef one during a 5-0 Beach run, helping
the 49ers break a 20-20 tie -- the 12th and final tie of the
fourth game -- and take a 25-20 lead.
Nebraska rallied
to make it 25-23, but following a LBSU timeout, Haneef slammed
home another kill and a Thomas-Nishimoto block on Laura Pilakowski
gave the 49ers a 27-23 lead.
After a Metcalf
kill, Haneef came through again with a blistering shot to
make it 28-24, and the Huskers never recovered. Haneef closed
out the match by sending the ball straight down Nebraska's
front-row players on match point.
"I thought
our team gave a good effort tonight," Cook said. "We've
still got a long way to go, but Long Beach is ahead of us
right now."
With the victory,
LBSU leads the all-time series between the two teams, 4-3.
The 49ers have not lost to Nebraska since Gimmillaro took
over as coach in 1985.
Nebraska entered
the contest with wins over fifth-ranked Hawai'i and No. 12
Pacific en route to winning its first ever State Farm/NACWAA
Volleyball Classic last weekend in Stockton.
The 49ers (2-0)
opened the 2001 season Friday night with a sweep over Iowa,
winning 30-13, 30-19, 30-21, before 2,591 at The Pyramid.
The Hawkeyes, a
young squad guided by former LBSU Assistant Coach Rita Buck-Crockett
(1986-'89), was overmatched and finished hitting for .095
while The Beach hit .354.
Long Beach's Haneef
led the floor with 16 kills, 10 digs and a .500 attack percentage,
while Weaver posted 13 kills. Junior, Lindsay Phillips served
up a career-best six aces in the match, while Hochevar finished
with four.
Next up for the
49ers is a match against New Mexico at The Pyramid on Wednesday
at 7:30 p.m.
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