Women's
volleyball off to slow start
By
Andrew Conway
On-line Forty-Niner
At
this point in time last year, the Long Beach
State women's volleyball team was undefeated
in 10 games. After splitting a two match
road trip -- a loss against UC Riverside
and a win against Cal State Fullerton --
this year's team is an average, for a program
of its caliber, 6-3.
"We've
got to get healthy," head coach Brian
Gimmillaro said.
"Right
now, we're not even healthy enough to practice."
The
two game swing began Friday night against
UC Riverside (6-5, 1-0 Big West) at the
UCR Student Recreation Center, where the
No. 23 ranked 49ers (6-3, 1-1 Big West)
would fall 3-1, 30-26, 30-26, 21-30, 30-27.
The
49ers once again struggled with its hitting
percentage in the match against UCR and
Gimmillaro attributes that to all of the
new faces on the team and lack of practice
time as a unit.
"This
is not a typical hitting percentage for
our team," Gimmillaro said. "I
would bet that in the last 18 years there
is not a program in the county that has
a better [cumulative] hitting percentage,
so this is not typical for our team."
UC
Riverside sophomore hitter Jamie DeKiewiet
had a match-high 21 kills and senior middle
blocker Rosanna Parizek had 16 kills and
hit .640 as the Highlanders posted its first
win against the 49ers since Oct. 26, 1982.
Despite
the heartbreaking loss, Liz Hudson and Erika
Chidester each posted double-doubles on
the evening. Chidester had 17 kills and
10 digs, while Hudson made 17 kills and
11 digs. Setter Jillian Mazzarella also
had a strong performance, posting 52 assists,
seven kills, and nine digs.
Game
one featured an outstanding effort from
Parizek, who had five kills and a pair of
critical aces. The Highlanders completed
the opening game hitting .469 during the
30-26 victory.
The
49ers appeared to have regained its composure
in game two, taking a 25-16 lead. Then,
UCR would get a side out on a kill by Parizek,
and follow with eight straight points and
14 of the next 15, resulting in a 30-26
decision.
Finally,
in game three, LBSU recorded its first win
versus the underdog Highlander team. The
49ers hit .417 compared to UCR's 0.56 and
went on to win 30-21. But one good game
wasn't enough to win the match; the Highlanders
finished off the 49ers in the fourth game
with a 30-27 win -- the final four UCR points
being the direct result of LBSU attack errors.
The
following day, the 49ers traveled to the
Titan Gym to take on CS Fullerton. Although
LBSU won the match in four games, 30-23,
30-16, 23-30, 34-32, it wasn't the typical
dominant performance many expect from the
team. In fact, Saturday night marked the
first time the Titans have extended the
49ers to four games since 2000.
Chidester
led The Beach with a match-high 21 kills,
and also added 11 digs for her third double-double
of the season. Meanwhile, Melanie Fleig
had a career-best 14 kills and Mazzarella
recorded her sixth double-double of the
season with a career-best 57 assists and
10 digs.
Long
Beach State took control of the match early,
jumping out to a 2-0 game lead. But once
again, trouble struck. The Titans won a
convincing third game, and nearly took the
fourth as well. Cal State Fullerton twice
had game point opportunities, but were thwarted
by a three point 49er rally to finish the
match. The win was the 41st consecutive
victory over the Titans.
After
the below average start for the typically
dominant women's volleyball team, Gimmillaro
wanted to assure fans that the program will
be okay.
"We'll
be back," Gimmillaro said.
The
49ers will try to make good on its coach's
assurances Friday, Sept. 26, taking on the
University of the Pacific in The Pyramid
at 7:30 p.m.
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