Volleyball
starting to get healthy, splits matches
By
Trent Loomis
On-line Forty-Niner
Just
when the women's volleyball team was beginning
to look like a whole, they split a pair
of games to conference rivals, Northridge
and Pacific.
The
49ers lost to the Matadors of Northridge
3-1 on Thursday night at the Matadome in
Northridge.
By
losing, LBSU dropped to 11-6 (6-4) in the
Big West, while Northridge improved to 11-6
(7-3 Big West).
The
loss was the first in seven matches against
Northridge and first for head coach Brian
Gimmillaro.
It
was a frustrating game for the 49ers due
to the 40 attack errors which lowered its
hitting percentage to .105 for the match.
Even
though the 49ers are a hobbled team, Head
Coach Brian Gimmillaro did not attribute
that solely to the team's loss.
"Northridge
is much better than the rest of the country
understands" Gimmillaro said. "The
conference is getting better and more balanced,
so we can't take these games for granted,
especially with the injuries our team has
suffered."
Liz
Hudson had 12 kills, while Natalie Uhart
posted 10 kills to highlight the scoring
After
the loss, the 49ers came home and had one
of their best practices of the year on Friday
because Chidester who was reserved for game
only situations was back on the practice
floor.
That
energy and growing unity resulted in a
3-0 straight set victory against Big West
opponent Pacific on Saturday.
With
the win, Long Beach State improved to 12-6
(7-4 Big West), while the Tigers fell to
11-8 (6-5 Big West). LBSU claimed sole possession
of fourth place in the Big West Conference.
Such
a turnaround could be attributed to the
team's sense of unity and cohesiveness which
got a shot in the arm from Chidester's upgraded
practice status.
Gimmillaro
who said that Chidester is playing at about
90 percent knows that the improved health
of the team is vital to its success.
"Our
level of communication on the court was
better," Gimmillaro said, "the
teamwork was there and that's why we were
able to beat a good team today."
It's
a good thing they are starting to gel, because
it's a tough road with as many as four matches
against ranked teams.
The
49ers will be in action on Friday, Oct.
31 versus Idaho, whom the team already
beat, at The Pyramid.
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