Big West Conference play to begin this weekend

By Michelle Fithian, On-Line Forty-Niner

Thursday, September 24, 1998

The Big West looks to maintain its billing as one of the strongest women's volleyball conferences in the nation.

The usual suspects of our own Long Beach State, Pacific and UC Santa Barbara have retained their perch in the Top 25, with all three cracking the Top 10 in one preseason poll.

Several other Big West teams are poised to join the ranks of the Big Three and make their own splash in the Top 25 - Boise State, Cal Poly, Idaho and Utah State are currently in the midst of making successful voyages to that promised land in Wisconsin.

With the NCAA's decision to increase the NCAA Tournament field from 56 to 64 teams, the Big West is in prime position to improve its standing on a national level and increase what already is considered excellent representation in the NCAA Tournament.

The Beach tops the Big West and the nation with an impressive 10-0 record. The Beach is led by senior middle blocker Besnishe Dillard, who was named Monday as the American Volleyball Coaches Association National Player of the Week for Divison I. Dillard was named co-MVP of this past weekend's UCSB Judy Bellomo Classic in Santa Barbara and was also the Big West Conference Player of the Week. Dillard led the undefeated 49ers, who are ranked No. 2 by the AVCA and No. 1 by Volleyball Magazine, to three wins and the tournament co-title with UCSB.

The heart of the 49er squad, senior setter Misty May, looks to defend her title as 1997 AVCA National Player of the Year and hopes to bring home the national title from Madison in December. She tallied 224 kills (2.06 kpg), 347 digs (3.18 kpg), 47 service aces (0.43 sapg) and 1323 assists (12.14 apg) last season and also ranked fifth in the Big West with a .363 hitting percentage.

While The Beach stays on top of the nation, two other Big West teams managed to sneak into the Top 10 of Volleyball Magazine's Sept. 14 poll. UCSB moved up one slot to sit at No. 3 and Pacific rounds out the Big West's representation, staying put at No. 6.

The 49ers look as though they have their work cut out for them and the next few months will test their resilience and prepare them for Madison. The 49ers look to make their record 12-0 this weekend when they travel to Logan to face Utah State Thursday night, and will head to Stockton to meet Pacific on Saturday.