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sports:
women's volleyball
Five hit .500-mark
in win over New Mexico
By Marten Lewerth
Daily Forty-Niner
Five 49ers hit
at least .500 as the women's volleyball team swept the University
of New Mexico, 30-16, 30-17, 30-6, Wednesday before 1,474
in a nonconference match at The Pyramid.
Junior outside
hitter Brittany Hochevar led the way with 10 kills, seven
service aces and eight digs in the win for No. 2-ranked Long
Beach State (3-0).
Hochevar's seven
aces also earned her the No. 2 spot for aces in the 49ers'
single-match record column, trailing only Alicia Mills, who
served up 10 aces against Houston in 1990.
"I kind of opened
up the cannon a little bit," Hochevar said. "I just had fun
with it."
Senior Cheryl Weaver
also finished with 10 kills, and teammate Ashanti Taylor posted
eight kills on 11 attempts with only one error.
Taylor, who has
performed well in all three of The Beach's matches this season,
looks to be the most improved 49er since last year.
"I played on the
beach all summer and worked on my arm swing and on getting
control," said Taylor, who was quick to compliment her teammates.
"I don't see any other team working as hard as us, nobody
has the talent like we do."
This talent was
evident as the match opened with a six-point run for Long
Beach with junior Tracy Bulquerin serving.
Bulquerin also
served out six-point runs in Games 2 and 3.
The 49ers hit .474
in the first game while the Lobos (2-2) struggled offensively,
posting an attack percentage of -.136.
Hochevar dished
out three of her aces in the frame, including a bullet down
the right side to close out Game 1.
The Lobos rebounded
in Game 2 by tallying 11 kills (hitting .208) and grabbing
a one-point lead on two different occasions, but it wasn't
enough as the 49ers hit for .524.
Senior setter Keri
Nishimoto, who finished with 32 assists on the night, closed
Game 2 with her second ace of the season.
In Game 3, the
49er attack hit full throttle. The Beach again went on a 6-0
run before the Lobos got on the scoreboard. Leading 13-4,
Weaver served up 10 points in a row and then retired for the
evening. With a 23-5 lead, Head Coach Brian Gimmillaro put
freshman middle blocker Erika Chidester in the rotation for
her debut as a 49er.
"The good sign
of a team is when a person who doesn't play much gets to go
in the game and the others rally around her," Gimmillaro said.
"They actually elevate their level to make her feel good out
there, and that's what happened with Erika."
Chidester notched
two kills on four attempts, and Hochevar tallied the final
two points as the 49ers sealed the match.
As a team, the
49ers dished out 12 aces against New Mexico, which tied for
10th best in a single match. The Beach also hit .471 in the
contest, while the Lobos finished with an attack percentage
of -.053.
Next up for The
Beach is the UNLV Classic this weekend in Las Vegas. The 49ers
take on Western Carolina (3-0) Friday at noon, followed by
a showdown with American Sunday at 1 p.m.
Gimmillaro said
the American match would not be easy.
"They've got a
lot of unknowns," Gimmillaro said, "it's very hard to gauge
them. They're dominating teams, so that will be a very good
match."
The trip to Nevada
marks the beginning of a full week for the 49ers, as the team
will play five matches capped by a contest against No. 4 Penn
State next Saturday at The Pyramid.
"We've really got
to turn it up now," Hochevar said. "We know that everybody's
improving. We just have to improve more than anybody in the
country between now and December."
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