Two
up, one down in USD tournament
By
Henry Montemayor
On-line Forty-Niner
Looking
to bounce back from an upset loss at the
hands of Eastern Washington University,
the women's volleyball team traveled to
the University of San Diego for a tournament
last weekend.
The
tournament, held at the Jenny Craig Pavilion
on the Campus of the University of San Diego
featured four teams, Cal State Long Beach,
Fresno State University, Maryland-Eastern
Shores University and the host University
of San Diego.
Head
Coach Brian Gimmillaro said the team did
well, going 2-1 in the tournament. However,
starting the season 5-2 is was not normal
for the team. "We were injured and
it hurt us," he said.
Long
Beach improved to 4-1 as they dispatched
Maryland-Eastern Shores in three games in
Friday night's match: 30-23, 30-13, 30-23.
Liz Hudson, Melanie Fleig and Erika Chidester
recorded 10 kills each in the victory.
Fleig's 10 kills were her career-best.
Long
Beach split its two matches on Saturday.
The 49ers squeaked by the Fresno State Bulldogs
in the early match in five games, 30-23,
24-30, 30-24, 24-30, 15-11. Hudson once
again led the 49er attack as she recorded
her fifth double-double of the season with
a team high 19 kills and 14 digs.
Heather Ludato added a team high 19 digs.
"I
try to make everyone else's job easier by
doing my job," Ludato said.
Long
Beach however dropped the nightcap to host
University of San Diego in straight sets,
33-35, 28-30, 25-30.
The
biggest loss of the match may have been
when Chidester, one of the teams best players,
was forced to leave in the third game due
to an ankle injury.
Chidester
will likely miss practice this week and
her status for upcoming matches is uncertain.
"With
Erika hurt, it changed a lot," Hudson
said. Chidester is the captain of the team
and Hudson said that they had to compensate
somewhere. "We didn't compensate as
well as we liked to," she said.
The
Torereos' Devon Foster led everybody with
20 kills, as well as adding eight digs and
four blocks.
Hudson
tallied 14 kills in the losing effort. The
loss dropped the 49ers to 5-2 on the season,
while San Diego improved to 7-2.
Long
Beach struck early and often in Friday night's
game. The 49ers used an early and
late scoring run to win the first game 30-23.
Maryland-Eastern Shore got as close as 22-21
before the 49ers pulled away with an 8-2
scoring run to close out game one.
After
a convincing 30-13 game two win, Long Beach
once again put together a 10-2 scoring run
to close out game three 30-23.
Neither
team hit well in the second match against
Fresno State, but the 49ers were able to
out hit the Bulldogs, .167 to .100.
Jillian
Mazzarella recorded a double double as well
with a career-best 52 assists and 13 digs.
Chidester reached double figures for the
fifth straight time in kills with 15 for
the match. Kristen Fenton led Fresno
State with her career high 31 kills in the
losing effort.
Despite
the loss to San Diego, Freshman Mariko Crum
contributed with eight kills, two digs and
six blocks. Ludato added 11 digs.
"We
played better than we did when we lost to
Eastern Washington. We're getting
better as the matches progressed,"
Ludato said.
Long
Beach opens conference play on the road,
as they travel to UC Riverside on Friday
and Cal State Fullerton on Saturday.
Both games start at 7 p.m.
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