The Beach sweeps Aztecs

By Michelle Fithian, On-Line Forty-Niner

Thursday, September 17, 1998

The Long Beach State women's volleyball team shut down San Diego State in three straight games Tuesday night at The Pyramid 15-0, 15-5, 15-8, in front of a crowd of 1,800. Tuesday's match was the fifth sweep of the season for the 49ers.

"We're No. 1," Head Coach Brian Gimmillaro said. "There are 300 schools out there and we're No. 1."

Twelve players saw action as Gimmillaro utilized his strong bench in the match that only lasted 66 minutes.

"We got to play a lot of people," Gimmillaro said. "I also liked that our team showed discipline even though we were controlling the match."

Senior setter Misty May hit .571 for the match and pounded four kills, tallied nine digs to add to her astonishing 29 assists and two blocks.

Junior outside hitter Veronica Walls proved she is back in full force from a preseason injury, playing only her second match this season and hitting .500, as well as nailing nine kills.

"I'm still not all the way back in shape. I'm probably at 90 percent," Walls said. "Practices are so hard. It's getting me back into shape. I'm working more on my shot selection because I'm not jumping as high. I'm playing smarter, not as aggressive."

The Beach stepped onto the court and shut out the Aztecs in the opening game, hitting .500. Senior middle blocker Benishe Dillard had a perfect hitting percentage and nailed four kills.

Junior middle blocker Brandy Barratt hit .500 and sophomore defensive specialist Melissa Ohta, who ended the match with seven digs and three assists, helped to push the score to 14-0. Senior outside hitter Jessica Alvarado finished the second game with eight kills. A San Diego State hitting error during a lengthy volley sealed the win for the 49ers.

In Game 2, junior outside hitter Mariah Marquis showed the depth in the bench and got her first taste of action when she replaced outside hitter Anja Grabovac, who suffered an abdominal pull. Marquis tallied seven kills and hit .200.

The Aztecs managed to gain some ground on the 49ers taking advantage of a service error by Ohta followed by a missed block for the point to hold The Beach at match-point through four sideouts while they rallied from a 14-4 deficit.

Dillard brought back the momentum for the 49ers with a kill for the sideout. The Beach scored five consecutive times with freshman middle blocker Cheryl Weaver contributing with a fingertip tap over the net for the point followed by back-to-back kills that all raised the score for the 49ers.

The Beach will face Pepperdine Friday at 12:30 p.m. and will play Florida State at 5:30 p.m. the same night at UC Santa Barbara.