49er
season ends in first round loss
Women's
Volleyball: Long Beach State women's volleyball
team lost Thursday in the first round of
the NCAA Playoffs for the second sraight
season, this time at the hands of Kansas
University
By
Karl Peterson
On-line Forty-Niner
The
Long Beach State women's volleyball team's
season ended in the same style of play that
characterized the team throughout the season.
The
Beach lost to Kansas University in the first
round of the playoffs Thursday in a three
game match (23-30, 28-30, 28-30). It was
the second straight year that the 49ers
have been eliminated from the playoffs in
the first round at the Firestone Fieldhouse
on the campus of Pepperdine University.
LBSU
was favored to win the match considering
it was playing near home and the Jayhawks
had never played in the NCAA Playoffs prior
to this season. The Jayhawks came out with
more intensity and because of the superb
passing of Kansas setter Andi Rozum the
ball was on a tee for every spike attempt
by the KU hitters.
The
great passing showed in the stat sheet.
The Jayhawks completed .359 of its attack
attempts well above Kansas' average and
LBSU's average too.
"You
have to take your hat of to KU," head
coach Brian Gimmillaro said in a somber
post game press conference. "They outplayed
us in every category, skill level, to discipline,
to fight, they beat us."
Gimmillaro
was down on his team after the match saying
that it lacked the leadership and drive
it takes to be a successful college volleyball
team. It was a comment that was not taken
well by Erika Chidester and Jillian Mazzarella
who were seated beside him at the press
conference and were already upset by the
loss.
Kansas
head coach Ray Bechard was very proud of
the play of his team. He said that to beat
a team with tradition of LBSU was a boon
for his program and that the competitive
spirit of his team showed when it won a
game coming from behind, a game that was
close throughout and a game in which the
team played with the lead.
Perhaps
the most impressive of the three game wins
for the Jayhawks was the third and final
game when KU found itself down 16-21. Kansas
was making unforced errors for the first
time in the match to create the deficit
but after a time out by Bechard the Jayhawks
regrouped and went on a match ending run.
Junior
Erika Chidester led the way for the 49ers
with yet another double-double, tallying
14 kills and 13 digs but it was not enough
for the young 49ers who have only two seniors
on the team, Raimi Mitchell and Liz Hudson.
Rosie Lewis also had a good game for The
Beach in her new starting role and at times
in the match she was flying through the
air to pound her way to 11 kills.
The
Jayhawks had balance in its attacks as Ashley
Michaels, Sarah Rome, Josi Lima and Lindsay
Morris all had over ten kills in the match.
It
was a disappointing season for the 49ers
who failed to reach 20 wins and advance
past the first round of the playoffs, but
the team is very young and will likely return
nearly all of its best players from this
season.
Freshmen
Mariko Crum, Natalie Uhart and Robin Miramontes
all played significant minutes this season
and performed well at times. Sophomore libero
Heather Laudato set the single season record
for digs this year and setter Jillian Mazzarella
and top outside hitter Chidester are both
juniors and should return to the team next
season.
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