Robin Miramontes posted six kills and eight digs during the 49ers' 3-0 win over Northwestern Tuesday night in The Pyramid. Matt Brown/CSULB Sports Information

 

Crimes stays hot, 49ers remain undefeated

By Wendalyn Lazarte
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer

The Wildcats got a dose of the newest star for the 49ers Tuesday night in The Pyramid.

Freshman Alexis Crimes led the way again for the No. 21 49ers with 10 kills as The Beach defeated the Northwestern Wildcats in three games (30-28,30-23 and 30-24).

Northwestern battled it out with the 49ers, but most of their points were on errors by The Beach.

"We just made too many mistakes in the first game," Head Coach Brian Gimmillaro said. "We had nine hitting errors [in the] first game, and then we hit the ball better as game went on."

The 49ers have now started 5-0 in nine out of the last 10 years and pushed their record to 154-13 in The Pyramid since it opened in 1994, but Gimmillaro knows the team still has room for improvement.

"This team needs to play, needs some experience," he said. "And then get back to the gym and iron out some problems, but we are getting better."

Redshirt freshman Heather Hetzer chipped in with eight kills and three blocks while Jillian Mazzarella ran the offense with 29 assists, nine digs, seven kills and three blocks. Mazzarella moved up to seventh on the all-time 49er assist list with 1,554 career assists.

The 49ers held Northwestern to just a .131 attack percentage. Julie Purcell had a match-high 13 kills for the Wildcats.

The 49ers ran away with the second and third games, but the Wildcats hung around for the first game. After being down 28-23, the Wildcats clawed back into the game with a Courtnie Paulis kill, which tied the game at 28 apiece.

Robin Miramontes would slam the door shut though with two straight kills to give the 49ers the win, but the 49ers admitted they were not playing their style of volleyball.

"It was in our head," Crimes said, who posted eight blocks on the night. "We wanted to do well, and when you over think about something then you make too many mistakes."

The 49ers were held to just a .109 attack percentage in the first game, and had nine errors.

Crimes has been on a terror since recording 13 kills against Yale Saturday night.

With each game Crimes said that she gets more comfortable on the volleyball court, and with her team members.

"[Crimes] played exceptionally well," Gimmillaro said. "She's blocking a lot of balls, and they're trying to avoid her and they're missing."

The 49ers have their Big West Conference opener tonight at 7:30 p.m. in The Pyramid against Cal State Fullerton.

"This is game time," Crimes said of the conference opener. "This is what we have been training for."

The 49ers will then host Arizona State at the Long Beach Arena on Friday at 7:30 p.m. before returning to The Pyramid for their second conference game Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against UC Riverside.